Soul of a Harlequin
by Whimsical
Summary: Dragon of Dragons, six made one, seventh sees, the end begun. Harle is not dead. Lift the veil of misinterpretation and see her past, and her future in this story... Updated! (really)
1. Soul of a Harlequin Introduction

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Alright boys and girls, _Soul of a Harlequin_ is back and this time I'm aiming to finish 'er up! I left her just when the ending was in sight but this story needs to be finished. I like to dabble in fan fiction now and again, when I'm not writing my original work, but I've never actually finished a fic. I want this one to be the first.

At first I didn't like the last fifty pages of the book so I decided to rewrite them. But this seemed like a whole lotta work and I didn't want to spend too much time with this piece. Then I remembered that I had thought this same thing awhile back and I did write a different way better ending. So after looking through a bunch of old floppies I finally found the alternate ending. I made it its own part for this publication. _Part 3: Harle Remains_ is going under heavy editing right now and I will be posting it chapter by chapter as it is ready.

When I am finished with the last section I am planning on going back over the first two and doing some more major editing. For one thing, I've played through Chrono Cross twice more since I started writing this book and I think I finally have Harle's accent pretty tight, though I may have gone a bit too thick with Kidd's in Part 3, we'll see. Section 1 and 2 need an accent revision though, as well as grammar (which I hate) and various other things.

I finally played Chrono Trigger. Chrono Cross is still my favorite but I felt a crossover was needed at some point so check out for a CT addittion at the end of Part 3.

When the revision is all done I have some more minor projects I wanted to finish before I can really call this work "complete."  
- Reformat so it looks better.  
- New Openning, Closing.  
- Glossary  
- Harle Accent Key Guide  
- Original Character Guide  
- Location Guide  
- Story Starters

Stick around, this is only going to get better (by finally getting finished)... And then _SOAH_ will become one of the longest Chrono Cross fics of all time. And I loved writing every word of it!

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PS. I love you Harle! But you're not really mine. Squaresoft / Square-Enix (at least the Square is before the Enix) actually made and own her and the majority of people and places in this work. The majority of the plot-line, some of the characters, and some of the places are my own work but anyone may use them in their own spin-off work, just as long as you site me and you aren't making some sort of profit and you are not in some way affiliated with Square-Enix! (though I really doubt anyone from the RPG Factory, Square-Enix, would ever bother to want to use anything I thought up)


	2. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 1

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Part 1: The Going of Serge -=- 

-=- Chapter 1 - "If Only Death was as Merciful as Serge" -=- 

_The Time Devourer has been destroyed, and the Omni-Dragon with it. Death did not come to the Dragons as it had been presumed. Whoever of the seven dragons that had the will to live, was sent back to the physical plane as well as the heroes. We open this tale finding the seventh dragon, the Lunar Child, mortally wounded on Opassa beach, three days after the battle for man had ended._

  
And her eyes opened.   
She lived? She could still feel blood running through her veins as her life beat through her body. Her eyes saw only darkness. Even in the nothingness, fear came easily to her. One without sight, in between death and life, had little to hope for. But vision of blue sky came quickly. Where was she? Her body felt alive, but where was she now? It took a moment for her ears to open to hear the shrill cries of seagulls screaming at the sun, and at each other. As the final layer of unconsciousness lifted, a blinding pain tore through her body and into her mind. Her back wrenched, and she bolted upright shrieking a horrid scream. There, gnawing on her leg as if it were a meal, was a lizard creature with absurd ears and a brazen attitude. Letting curses fly like arrows she scared the beach creature into a frenzy and it ran away into the thick and colored vegetation.   
That water of the tide was lapping forward with tiny waves no more then ripples on the beach. With its miniscule furry the beach water had carved a still pool beside her, that remained still and reflective. She could see the top of her reflection in the water. A debate ragged in her mind for a moment, on whether she should look fully. Her face had been beaten, she could feel the bruises. But what horrid monster was waiting her in the mirror water. Finally, she tilted her head up over the side of the pool and gazed into it, whatever it held. A small gasp escaped her lips. Her face held fast to her head, a mask of broken flesh, bruised and covered in healing cuts and scratches. Her forever-white skin seemed rainbow colored with reds and blues. And flying about her head in the breezes of the sea, was her blonde hair. The strands were long and unkempt, swirling about with disregard. All of this motion, due to her missing head-dress. A lone tear slid down her nose and into the seawater, laced with anguish unkown. It rippled across the still pool spreading its pain to the edges and beyond. Finally she brought herself to look at her leg. Blood had stained her blue pantaloon's blood red, and the cloth stuck painfully to her wounds. The bones of her leg were like tiny bits of driftwood, flowing freely in the ocean of her flesh.   
But all this didn't matter, she was Harle after all! She would survive, until the end of days. She had promised herself this years ago and she would never forget it! Not now! But the battle was over, Opassa beach was deserted, and not even the dimension portal was in tact. And the memories stung her mind almost as harsh as her damaged leg. But now was not the time for memories, it was the time to call upon her deep flowing self motivation.   
"Come come Harle!" She spoke to herself as loud as she could, but pain laced her voice and made her words stumble. "Zhe battle iz over! But zhere iz zo much you have left to do!" And with that she began to crawl on her hands and knees across the beach face. Whimpers barely escaped her throat as her hurt leg dangled behind her. Her arm touched an unseen object, and it tinkled with the touch. Her coxcomb! Daintily she lifted the red leather jester cap from the sands and grabbed it tightly as if it was a wayward vital organ. With it in hand she continued to push forward down the beach. 

  
It became difficult to remember exactly what happened beyond time, though she forced herself to think. To think even of that pain, would distract her from her more pressing physical agony. She had finally found Serge again, she had brought herself to him. But she could not lie, it was her duty to find Lynx, and destroy him. That one objective had brought her so close to Serge again, by a twist of chance. And when FATE perished, she could feel the spirits of the Dragon's calling her into them. Her quest had ended, but not by her own hands. And her spirit was to mingle with others of her kind, and leave the petty humans (and Serge) to their fates without FATE. They did not have their precious technology to protect them any longer! Revenge was finally to come! And her mind was a blank expanse after that. Her spirit had forgotten what her body cold not bear.   
And with hours of labor she reached the forests beyond the beach and peninsula of Lizard Rock. But her spirit was tugging to be free, and she collapsed beside some browning shrubbery. It seemed to her, a good a place as any. Such pain no living thing should ever feel. She had existed too long, may her regrets die with her. 

  
But life laughed where death would not come. She would not die, her dragon spirit would not release its body. And so she would pass in and out of consciousness. Every time she came to herself she would pull herself forward a few feet, and fall face down again. Each time she got a little less further, and rested a little bit more. 

  
Hours more passed, and her eyes were wide open but pointed into the earth. She had lost all feeling in her leg and only a searing (but distant) burning was left in it. This could only mean one thing. An infection was tearing into her leg, even down into the very bone fragments she had left. With such a wound she wouldn't get much further even if she could move faster. To make her situation even more pointed her stomach seemed to be digesting other organs, with hungry need. Days had passed since her last meal, and it was a fight to keep from eating whatever her face fell upon (which was more often animal droppings then vegetation). She stretched out her arms in front of her and began to pull her body along the ground again. It was almost as if she was a dying animal, clawing its way back to its cave to finally perish. But she had no where to go now. She was just pulling herself along, hoping for civilization. 

  
This time when her eyes opened, something was different. Some great time must have passed, for when she had fallen into unconsciousness last, the night loomed black and eternal. Her eyes presented now, a beautiful afternoon. But this fact did not remain as the only difference. Instead of finding herself face down , she found herself on her back and her head resting on a small pile of cloth strips (a great deal more comfortable then the dirt and the rocks). Resting heavily on her abdomen was a large clay bowl of fruit. It balanced on her stomach so she couldn't possibly miss it. Her leg! It was bandaged and the bone had been set in a sturdy wooden brace. Already, the leg spouted thankfull throbs, against the brace. A few used Heal and Purify elements lay scattered about, testifying to her recovery. But who had set her leg in the brace? And who had-   
The questions stopped suddenly when she sniffed through her nose. Her skin, her clothes, they smelt of fresh water. She had been bathed, her body cleansed of dirt and sweat. Slowly she reached an arm up to the top of her head. It jingled. Her head-dress had been placed on her head, her hair perfectly wrapped and folded beneath the leathers as if she had done it herself! Sitting up and looking at her clothes, all the holes had been sewn together with blatant blue thread, laced up and down across and drawn tight to form scars of fixed clothing. Who had done this thing? Who had the NERVE to do such a thing as to bathe HER while she was asleep? Angrily she looked about, but no one could be seen. The forest floor did not yield any tracks, and only fruit and forest smells echoed about her. Perhaps it was the forest spirits? With that thought her anger quickly subsided. Whoever it was, indeed it would be a mystery not easily solved. Well, she hoped they had liked what they had seen at least.   
The food bowl seemed to be growing bigger and brighter every time her eyes fell across it. And even though she would not normally trust a perverted stranger so willingly, she went at the fruit as soon as she could gather the strength. Each piece was different, and each piece rolled down to her stomach, presenting the withg of an entire meal! She was full in no time, spitting pits with masculine aptitude, out at the trees surrounding her.   
Her hand touched something she had not yet seen laying next to her. Colored brown like the forest floor it had been hidden in the dirt and dying leaves. The object was a long stick, smoothed with whittling. The length, the construction, it obviously had been made a crutch for her to lean upon. Painfully... slowly... and relying heavily on the crutch, she stood on her good foot. Pain was still distant and throbbing in her bad leg, but at least now she was full, fresh, and a great deal more mobile. And so she set off to find someone who could offer her shelter, at least for the next night. 

How quickly the night came. It sensed her urgency and rushed to her aide, only to plunge her into unwanted darkness and cold. Though the food weighed nicely in her belly for some time, it made her very sleepy and the dark did not ease this ailment. So she took her chances and propped herself up against a tree, dozing off. If an animal came, let it come. If a monster came, let it come. As of now, she cared little for life or death even with her second chance granted her. 

  
"Non!" Serge stood in front of her, flanked by faces from the past. "Non! it iz moi! Can you not zee?" Their weapons shinned as furiously as their eyes. With a sudden cry by Serge they all closed in around her, slashing at her with their blades and poles and daggers. Each slash of steal seemed to rip a line into her flesh and each word sputtered seemed a curse for her alone! But these were her friends! No! No.... They were humans... not her friends... her pawns and that is all. She could not control herself, and found energy draining away from her spirit to release an attack of her own. Such power, would surely kill them all! And her mind struggled with her heart in such a way as it had a thousand times before. Would they ever agree? With an enormous effort she flapped her wings and with the breeze sent her attackers flying. Wings? Where had she grown wings? When? She tried to look at herself but could not. And she remembered, she was inside the Omni-Dragon. So was this how pathetic the humans had looked when she had attacked them? They were blown and tossed about so easily and with such frailty? How had they ever beaten the Omni-Dragon... or the Time Devourer...? 

  
"Do you think she's dead?" The voice came like an echo through the battle in her mind.   
"No. She is dreaming." A woefully familiar voice suddenly replied. "Her lips are trembling." Her eyes snapped open, startling the two humans standing above her. Master Night had left to plague other lands and it was morning. The air tasted fresh and yellow with the sunrise. But more importantly were the two that had saved her from her nightmare. One looked familiar (somewhat) and the other... she turned away from him.   
"S...." No, she could not say his name ... she had to ... "Serge? Iz zhat really... really you?" Perhaps she didn't say it. He didn't respond, but simply starred at her. And her face became flushed with a vibrant red as his eyes pounded into her. Her own eyes crept back to look at him, she couldn't stop them. Such innocence, and large beautiful blue eyes, all of his features, everything was the same. Even his half smile that seemed ever-implanted on his lips, remained. It was as if she had painted a picture from her memory and it had come to life. There was even that little scar across his left cheek bone. She had given that to him when they had fought at Hermit's Hideaway eons ago.   
"Sil Vous Plait." She finally murmured. "You are ztarring...."   
"You're being rude Serge!" Leena tugged him back and away from her. "Hi! I'm Leena! And this is Serge."   
"Hello." Serge added.   
"Who are you?" Leena asked. Harle just starred back with her red eyes burning and shimmering inside of their sockets.   
"Moi?" She tried to regain her composure, but something wasn't correct about all of this. Serge didn't seem to recognize her at all. He wasn't playing a game, pretending not to know her, but he seemed genuinely at a loss for her face. "Je'mapelle Harle." Harle replied.   
"Well Je'Mapelle Harle," Leena smiled broadly. "You are lucky we found you, there are lots of beasties running through the woods here and-"   
"Harle." Serge said, his eyes turning thoughtful. "No, its just Harle."   
"Shush!" Leena squawked back at him. "She just said her name was Je'Mappelle Harle! Why don't you pay more attention?"   
"Juzt Harle." Harle smiled halfway. "Do you remember moi Serge?"   
"You know her from somewhere?" Leena did little to suppress the anoyence in her tone. They were to be married in three weeks and there would be no interference with it. Paranoia? Who cares. Better safe then jilted. After all she had spent her life loving Serge and no stranger would take it away.   
"No!" Serge suddenly shook himself back to reality. "No, of course not." But the face did seem familiar to him, somewhere in a dream perhaps.   
"Non..." Harle begged. "You muzt remember moi! Sil vous plait! You ... muzt ..." It made sense to her now. Having finished using its humans, the Frozen Flame had returned them back to where they belonged, purged of memory. But for some reason, it had seen fit to let Harle remember everything, every last detail. Was this Hell? Perhaps it was. Nothing could be worse then being swept under the carpet of the world.   
"She must be delirious." Serge said, reaching his arms around the crumpled girl. "We should take her back home." And with that he hoisted the weary clown up into his arms and began to walk. It felt good for her to be pressed so close to him, her hand could feel the slow beating of his heart. His smell, it was so familiar she wished she could kiss him right there, and bring his memory back like a fairy-tale. But the world had forgotten Harle, and she was truly alone now.   
"Take her back to Arni?" Leena shouted, stamping her foot. "Don't you think one strange woman is enough?" 

  
"You!"   
"... you ..."   
The two stared at each other, sparring no amount of fire and hate. Leaning on her wooden crutch, Harle could do nothing but stare. And she hoped that because they were in Serge's village that a fight would not break out.   
"Oi! I thought I'd be done with ya after all a' this!" Kid had her hand already wrapped around her dagger. She was shouting in that ridiculous accent of hers, and the villagers of Arni had begun to assemble around Harle and Kid. This reunion had degenerated into a play, entertaining all of Arni.   
"And you! What hole did you crawl from?"   
"Listen ta me ya funny faced freak," Kid spat on the ground. "If you weren't all banged up like that, and ya could take me in a real fight, I'd kick-"   
"Oui oui." Harle waved her hand to stop the flow of words. "You would kick mon azz zo hard I would make love with zhe moon, non?" For the first time in days, Harle cracked a smile at her remark. It was just sarcastic enough to set Kid over the edge. No, it wasn't wise. But perhaps wisdom was not her strongest trait.   
"BUGGER!" Kid squeezed the word between clenched teeth. And with that, lunged at the enigmatic jester.   
"No!" Serge stepped between them instantly, and Kid tore herself to a halt, blade just inches away from Serge's forehead.   
"Bloody hell!" Kid stepped back. "Whadda ya doin' mate? Your gonna get killed that way!"   
"Serge!" A faceless villager tossed a staff like weapon out to Serge who caught it easily. Flipping it expertly about him he brought it to a defensive staff in front of Kid.   
"There will be no fighting in Arni. If you want to strike my friend down, while she is still injured, you will have to fight me first." And Serge stood firm.   
"Aww, Serge! ... she ain't no mate of yours!" But he didn't move. And eventually Kid sheathed her blade.   
"And besides!" Leena suddenly shouted from the sidelines. "Maids shouldn't ... uh... well, they shouldn't act so tough like that!"   
"Ah...uh..." Kid's face turned blood red. "bugger..." But it was too late.   
"Nah-ne-nah!" Harle took her free hand and twirled on her nose in a mocking expression. "You are zhe maid? Ha-ha-ha! Come zhen maid! Mon petit rear needz zhe good cleaning!" And Harle spun about, shaking her bottom promiscuously.   
"Serge, let me kill her. PLEASE!" Kid begged. 

  
After such a rough introduction, Harle saw little of Kid for several hours. She was probably off taking care of some "maid" business. Harle had been left to rest inside on Serge's own bed, in his old room. Basic construction had begun on Serge and Leena's hut, but they were not yet married, and Serge still came back to his old room to sleep at night. Harle wondered passively if he would sleep beside her that evening. Such a dream loomed too far to grasp. He was a gentleman, and would have her sleep somewhere else or would himself find a more private spot.   
Seeing Kid had helped Harle out in her mind, a great deal more then it had hurt. Besides the fact that it seemed Kid had her memories still, seeing a familiar face, and speaking familiar words, all of this had begun to rebirth Harle's old personality from wherever it slumbered. Healing would come quickly if she rested this well for just a few days. And then she would have to go out into the world, and make her way through it again, like she had as a child. And then there was her duty. Grimacing harshly at that thought, she sat up out of the bed and grabbed her crutch. 

  
Every stone of the village stood the same. Though the people where fearful, Lynx-Serge would often come to Arni for just a little while on his travels. Though Lynx-Serge needed his body back, and needed to get back to Another World, there always seemed to be a few minutes extra to stop and stay at Arni. It did him comfort even if the villagers were hard pressed to keep their mouths quiet of the panther demi-human. Their murmurs, to him, seemed to be made of melodious sonnets rather then the gurgles of poisonous gossip.   
Plodding carefully through the dirt, Harle drew much attention with every step. It didn't matter. She was used to stares, and the cries of children who ran from her, or to her, and the rude comments, and everything. She knew she was alone, the moment she starred at her snow white face in a mirror, and the moment she felt the Lunar Dragon soul running intertwined with her mind. But she had lost much since the fight. She could not phase shift anymore. Where as she could pass easily into the Spirit World, or any other plane, it seemed her spirit had lost this ability. Perhaps she wasn't a Dragon goddess any longer. Maybe the Frozen Flame had stripped this one thing from her. No, she was still a goddess. Her spirit rose up within her to remind her of this. It clawed its way through her throat and into her mind where it began a tantrum of memory. She could still feel the pull of her duties, and she could still feel the power of her spirit. Would these things ever pass on?   
"Do you like Arni village?" Serge's voice touched her ears like soothing ointments.   
"Oui. It iz trés quaint."   
"You are welcome here, as long as you wish to stay." Serge offered.   
"Merci beaucoup Monsieur Serge." Harle did not have to hurry to keep in stride with Serge for he slowed down to walk with her, to keep in her stride.   
"Tell me... Harle was it? Tell me Harle, what brings you to this part of the world? I'm a bit curious. We don't get many visitors." Serge asked trying to make polite conversation. His eyes wandered up and down her body, drinking her in. Either he didn't notice, or he lacked shame. But Harle would never stop him.   
"Perhapez, it waz fate, zhat brought me here." Harle said as they walked. "To tell you any more, would be trés painful."   
"Ah, don't worry about it." Serge patted her shoulder passively. "You can tell me all about yourself, when you're good and ready." He began to speed up his steps. "I've got to go now, but if you need anything just ask our maid for help. I don't know how you girls know each other, but maybe you can work things out."   
"Ah, oui..." Harle mumbled to herself. "Zhe maid." 

  
Harle waited expectantly, laying across Serge's bed. It was long after dark, and there was a sleeping bag and bed arrangements sprawled across Serge's floor. She could only hope he would be laying beside her, though not close enough, very soon. The door suddenly opened, slamming into the wall obnoxiously, and in stepped Kid in a big wide yawn.   
"Ah non...." Harle turned over, giving Kid her back. Why hadn't she seen this coming?"   
" 'Ah non', yerself." Kid must have expected this sleeping arrangement, because she didn't seem surprised. "I don't like this and ya don't like it either. So just shut up and deal with it." And with a sharp exhale Kid fell amongst her homemade bed on the floor. With a flick of Harle's wrist the torches that kept the room ablaze went out completely. And there was only darkness and silence for some time.   
Both lay awake, and both didn't stir even a little from where they had settled to sleep. It was uncomfortable (at least) for them to be so close to one another, tension became a second blanket. But nothing could be done about it for now. Such irony presented in this situation, to them, did not seem at all comical. Two woman, made enemies over one man, who didn't even remember either of them. And most of all he was going to marry in just three-weeks.   
"Zhe maid hmm?" She couldn't help herself. The silence was as stifling as death.   
"Shut up." Kid shot back, full of venom. She had been prepared for this.   
Some time passed before Harle spoke again.   
"No one rememberz, do zhey? Only moi et vous."   
Only silence replied. It was a difficult statement, but a true one.   
"Kid?" Harle called for an answer.   
"No." Kid turned onto her side, the blankets she lay upon did little to soften the hard floor. "No one remembers. Just me and you."   
"Why?"   
"Why? Why!" Kid leapt to her feet, starring down at the shadow that was Harle. "Yer the bloody seventh dragon! Yer the one that started all of this! And yer askin' me WHY?" Harle turned and sat up, starring back up at Kid. The light of the room suddenly came back as Kid re-lit the torches. She wanted to see Harle's face.   
"Well?" Kid asked again. "Aren't ya gonna say something or just stare at me!" She felt her spirit becoming desperate. The pain ached uncontrollably, ripping tearing at her soul and soon it would burst. It was too difficult to live in a world where no one remembered. Not even her beloved Radical Dreamers remembered. And it was all Harle's fault! If it wasn't for those Dragon gods... the Omni-Dragon...the Time Devourer... there would have been no adventure. There would have been only peace! And she could lived her life without a useless love for Serge, without knowledge that she was a clone, without leaving the Radical Dreamers... without any pain at all! "WELL!?"   
"What iz it you want moi to zay?" Harle asked simply. She could almost feel Kid's pain dripping off of the child's forehead in the form of sweat.   
"It's yer fault!" Kid leapt across the room and onto Harle, flattening her to the mattress. "YER fault!" She began to beat her fists upon Harle's chest. "Yer fault! Yer fault! Yer fault!" With every sentence she slammed her arms into Harle. And Harle lay there, defenseless and unmoving, letting the human bring her pain. She deserved everything. Anyone born to execute genocide deserved much worse then a small beating. 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	3. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 2

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 2 - "The Fall of Four-Lettuce Soup" -=- 

  
Harle didn't see much of Kid the next few days. After Serge and Leena had broken into the bedroom and peeled the raging Kid off of her, Harle was given quarter with another of the villagers in a hut across the dirt path. She slept down in the basement of the hut amongst piles of trophies and memories. But Kid's anger had not left Harle's mind. She let it stay with her. It was a security blanket, soft, and laced with barbs and needles. Her mind would never let go. But despite the escapades of her and her rival, Harle's character continued to heal with her leg. Soon she would be back to her pleasing self, and her mobile self. And one thing was certain, she would have to leave this village as soon as this happened. The dragons were still alive. Each spirit gave thick presence to her, and she could feel them yearning, reaching out, ready to reassemble the Omni-Dragon. But at least, this time, there would be no betrayal. All she had to do was find them wherever they lay. Surprise did not describe what she felt, as her emotions waned to a watery drip, pattering against her brain. She had lived, why not the others? 

  
Though her leg still protested, Harle began to wean herself slowly off her steady supply of Heal elements. It wouldn't have been so hard, had they a single HealAll, but with small towns came small elements. And so she fully rejected her crutch and began to wobble about the village, trying to see what was to be seen and keep her rapidly moving mind occupied moment by moment. She had the entire town wrapped in gossip, her and Kid. It seemed everywhere she would walk the people would get very quiet. Harle was a storm in her own rite, evoking the silent reverence of everyone before her. When she passed she left a wave of whispers behind, that her subconscious fed upon but her fore-thoughts rejected with ease. And the word "Demi-Human" was not uncommon on their lips. It wasn't that she had excellent hearing, but that they spoke of her so loudly.   
It had been eight days since she had arrived at Arni. No one there had bandaged her leg in the forest, nor did they know of any passer-bys who might have lent a hand to her. It was a mystery that kept Harle's wayward thoughts just that much more distracted. Distraction, a defense she relied upon more then her forlorn crutch. 

  
The sun rose over the day with a jingle. Harle looked skyward towards the golden day-herald, and as the ball rose higher, so did her smile. The sun whispered to her, whispering words she had heard before. Mischief. Mischief and satisfaction. It was an anthem Harle loved to hum. Maybe it was time to give these simple minded villagers something to talk about.... And that was when the smell brushed across her petite nostrils. Pie. Blueberry. It would be a treat for her, since she had eaten only fish and the meat of small game for nearly a week.   
Wobbling casually (casually for a maimed clown that is) she followed the smell of the desert. It yanked her along, wrapping its invisible ever-present hands about her neck and guiding her with the finesse of a wild moose. Demi-Human...whisper whisper... It was nothing she hadn't hear before and Harle pushed through the forest of lost and dying words and continued her quest. Standing guard was a fence of considerable age, and stature. But still the aroma beckoned and the sun pushed her towards her goal. This was all predetermined! Who was she to resist? The gate had no lock, of course. Such a small limit would not have stopped her long anyway. And beyond the gate was a hut, the largest in the village and with the pride of a fortress. It was the Elder's hut. Nothing so splendid would ever be erected for a peasant, after all.   
Deserted? How could they have committed such an error? And the pie called, screaming and waving its arms about wherever it lay. Ah! There! Some generous person had left the blueberry pie to cool on a window sill! The pie was singing it's sweet blueberry melody and her stomach seemed to leap about in anticipation. What would this do? If (when) she was caught, would she get thrown from the village? Could she live alone now? It didn't matter. She needed to do something mischievous. It was a desire that seemed to beat against her skull. Besides! It was so much fun! With a childish giggle she grabbed the pie and began to hobble her way back towards the entrance of the clearing.   
A blur, so fast she could not see it, suddenly passed her on her right. It circled about and passed her going to the opposite direction behind her, on her left. Stopping just a moment it thrust out a wood colored rod in front of her bad leg. With a searing embarrassing pain she tumbled forward and her face fell into the sweet blueberry mess. Filling fell everywhere, her cry muffled amidst the blue goo. Wiping it from her eyes, she could hear the laughing of an old man. It was a raspy laugh, vibrant as it was hollow. Finally she could see again, waving the hot steaming mass on her face as if trying to cool it before removing it.   
"Ah! You crazy old man! What iz zhe mater with you?"   
"You know better." It was the village elder, Radius. And his eyes shinned with youth he had long since shed. But he himself was not beyond his foolishness and pranks completely. "That pie was for the children, when they finished their studies."   
"You did zhat on purpoze!"   
"I wouldn't have done it, if you had just asked for some instead of stealing the whole thing." Radius finally came over to the fallen jester, and pulled her back to her feet with an elderly grunt. "Come inside." The elder commanded and walked back into his hut. "Let us get you some rags to clean up with." Harle was tempted to apologize as she stood in the doorway watching the old man hunt for rags. But it was an easily resisted temptation. She had never apologized to anyone and it would be a nasty habit to start.   
"Go on." Radius requested. "Take a seat any place."   
"You move quite fazt for zhe old man, non?" Harle commented as she sat down in one of many wooden chairs that littered the entire house.   
"You think that was fast? Heh!" The old man threw a ball of cloth at Harle. And she took it, silently thankful. "Back when I was Serge's age, I could have given that boy a run for his money! Hunting, fishing, swimming, they were all my specialties!"   
"Whatever you zay old man." And she chuckled slightly into her rag. Pulling back, a look of irritation crossed her face. Blue and red paint was coming off of her face into the rag. And she had taken all sorts of time putting her tear and scar designs back on. What a waist! The paint of Arni must have been water based and cheap.   
"I have heard much talk about you from my villagers." Radius settled down across from her, setting his mind now on more important business maters. Wood was the medium of choice for the interior of the hut. But the forms of wood were solid and built with strong hands. Every item of furniture had been used nearly to death, scars of abuse crisscrossed across each shined surface. "Indeed, you jester girl, have captured the attention of everyone in Arni."   
"Oui. I am very sure of zhat."   
"Some say you are a Demi-Human." Radius mentioned softly. It was still a touchy subject amongst many people in the El Nido sea. Would she take offense?   
"What doez zhis matter to you? What of Marbule?"   
"Ah yes, it is a beautiful thing that Fargo is doing over there." Radius nodded in stark concurrence. "I believe that with all of my heart. But you must understand that many of the people here in Arni have never traveled beyond the Fossil Valley, or more then a mile or two off the shoreline. We are, for lack of a better word, a backwards people."   
"You need not make excuszes for zhe villagerz. Zhey are not doing zomething I have never zeen before. I am uzed to it."   
"You are gracious, but as you can imagine I haven't called you in to talk about if you are a Demi-Human or not-"   
"Oui, I am." She smiled, cutting him off quickly.   
"Very good. Whatever you are, you are." Radius shrugged it off quickly. "It doesn't matter. What I wanted to ask you was, well it may sound awkward but, have we met somewhere before?"   
"Hmmm?" Harle let her expression fall to a quizzical squint.   
"Since you first stepped into the village, your movement, your accent, it all seems familiar."   
"Like a forgotten dream, non?" She finished his thought for him.   
"Yes!" He hit his fist against the table. "That's it!"   
"Dreamz are for zhe children." Harle stood to leave. Her comment hung heavy in the air. It was a lethal blow to Radius' enthusiasm. And without a parting greeting, she began to leave the hut.   
"Wait." Radius's voice held her just a moment longer. "What are your plans for the future Harle?"   
"Do not worry old man. I will be out of zhe village az zoon az I can walk on mon own two feet." And Harle was back out into the sunshine. The conversation had turned very sour for her in the last few minutes, and she pondered what had happened. Had she lost her edge? Even in her costume she was adept at amusing people and making uncomfortable situations bearable. But yes, conversely, she could mold circumstances into intimidating situations with her gothic clown appearance. She was whatever she needed to be. But why did she need to be, almost, rude with Radius? Especially when he had shown her only kindness? Too many questions. Her head was too full of questions. They simply oozed from her ears. She needed answers. Answers and sleep. Yes, she would sleep now and look for answers later.   
"Harle!" Radius suddenly called out after her as she walked.   
"Oui?" It was a sigh, rather then a word. But she turned around to face him. Would he ever give up?   
"Remember, you can stay in Arni as long as you wish. And if you need anything from me, do not hesitate to ask. It's time the people of this village grew up a little."   
"Merci Beaucop." Harle bowed her head for a moment, and grinned with a wide grin. Perhaps she hadn't lost her edge after all.... 

---

  
"Harle."   
"Oui Monsieur Lynx?"   
"I have some business to take care of at Viper Manor. I want you with me in case something happens."   
"Oui."   
"Do you think you can stay out of trouble until I finish?"   
"Oui! When do I get in trouble Monsieur Lynx? I am zhe parfait angel, non?"   
"No."   
"Oui...oui... I will be good."   
"Good."   
It was an odd dream. In itself, it was nothing more then a random replay of events that had occurred weeks and years and millennia's ago. Lynx had visited Viper Manor numerous times before, though he had never asked her to go along (save a few occasions he thought he may have to "convince" someone there to help his cause). Lynx had gone upstairs to speak with Viper himself, while Harle had been instructed to stay downstairs in case the "ghost boy" from another world should arrive suddenly. Banished to a room on the first floor the enigmatic jester remembered, she had become instantly and completely board. And that was where Harle was now, pacing back and forth in a room she had not visited in some time, but had been brought to in this random dream. And as she had done for real when Lynx had brought her to the manor for the last time, she sprawled herself across an un-comfortable couch and waited for Lynx to finish his business.   
The door opened slowly and cautiously. And she strained to see who was entering. But her dream body would not move, and she could only wait until the dream saw fit to have her execute a movement. There was the patter of boot steps as three pairs of feet moved across the room.   
"Shhh." Someone whispered. "Don't wake her."   
"Oi! I'm not gonna bloody wake her!"   
"Stop talking so loud!"   
"...bugger..."   
"Shhh!!!"   
"Sil vous plait, shut up." Harle heard herself say, and finally she turned over to see Serge, Kid and Nikki the Rockin' Bard.   
"Sorry." Serge apologized.   
"Yeah, sorry, listen here, me and me mate Serge here, and this freak on a leash here, we're lookin' for a way up to the top floor of the manor. Can ya help us?"   
"Help you?" Harle's dream self said, then chuckled to herself. "Non. Go away. I need mon rezt."   
"But..."   
"Leave her alone." Serge finally said with painful reluctance, that stung the ears. "She doesn't owe us anything." What innocence. Serge had no idea, he was a dagger in the rough. A dagger meant to cut Harle into pieces whether he wished it, or not.   
"Zpeak to zhe soldierz down in zhe basement levelz. Maybe zhey can help you."   
"Thank you." Serge replied to the lounging harlequin.   
"Serge..." Harle's voice began to trail off. "...dream of moi..."   
It was the first time Harle had ever spoken with Serge. Serge had just found his way into Another World, and with Kid he had planned to storm the Manor and find out why the Dragoons had tried to kill him. Four years, for four years she had watched Serge mature from a boy to a man, while she herself blossomed into a woman. Lynx had watched his son often, hidden in the trees. And Harle was always with him looking down into Arni. She had always wondered if he had come to wait and entrap Serge, or if Wazuki was beating still in Lynx's body, deep down and away from the light. It didn't matter. The dream left a very sweet and nostalgic feeling buzzing in her dreamless slumbering mind.   
"...Harle..." Was it another dream? A voice was calling her. She needed to answer.   
"Oui? Iz it you Monsieur Lynx?"   
"...no..." The voice was very faint, echoing from far away.   
"Monsieur Serge?"   
"No. I am not Serge or Lynx. I am a voice in a dream."   
"Oui, zhat much I understood." The voice spoke in darkness. It seemed only Harle's voice and his moved inside her now.   
"Do you remember where you were born?"   
"Born? I waz not born! I am zhe dragon goddess!"   
"How old are you?"   
"I am eight and ten yearz old."   
"How can you be eighteen, if you were not born?" The question made too much sense, and Harle had thought about this before. But her mind had no concept of childhood. She had severed the six dragons for all time. Or maybe it was only as far back as she could remember. "Harle? Do you remember where you were born?"   
"Non! I waz not born! I waz created!"   
"Euore. A village in Teodorrin." The voice said back to her heated response. "That is where you were born."   
"Who iz zhis? Who iz in mon dreamz?" It was a pleading question, and hopeless.   
"Come to Euore and you will finally see me."   
"But...but! Zhat iz zuch a long way away! Ze dragon godz! Mon duty!"   
"The decision is yours. I will be waiting there for you." And the voice left her to empty sleep. 

  
-=- Time Passed - Four Days Remain Until Serge's Wedding -=- 

  
The days were passing, and any talk of Harle and Kid fell by the wayside as the joyous union of Serge and Leena grew closer. Just days separated them from a perfect union of mind, body, and estate. Four days remained, and the preparations were in full swing. Leena stood amongst a pulsing throng of woman as they poked, prodded, measured, tucked, taped and fastened layer after layer of white fabrics onto the teenage bride. But she enjoyed the attention, and she enjoyed the festivities that were being presented. Kid was there. Of course, she was far apart from the crowd. Her face was a war of forced smiles and easy frowns. But she had been hired as a maid, and she had to do what she had to do. And if that meant standing by and holding pins for the old women, that was what she would do, until she was no longer needed.   
"I don't know. I think it may be a little too fluttery." Leena was saying as she twiddled about in front of a tall mirror set on the wall. The hut was small, but the living quarters had been completed cleaned out for the dress fitting and sewing. Only a few necessary pieces of furniture remained.   
"Nonsense! You look lovely darling!" One of the women smiled broadly up at Leena.   
"What do you think Kid?" Leena suddenly turned to look at Kid with wide expectant eyes. No matter what was said, let it be known that Leena was innocent as a child.   
"It looks..." Kid struggled to describe the ridiculous costume. It seemed a polar bear was trying to eat Leena, and only her head was sticking out of the top of it's mouth. Natural things had always been what Kid thought of as beautiful. Fabrics and frilly things, girlish design and whimsical fickle fashion seemed to be nothing but a farce deep down. "...it looks pretty good."   
"Pretty good? Well why don't you help out instead of standing there holding needles?" One of the woman creating the dress took personal offense at the halfway comment.   
"Serge!" Leena cried out in terror. Completely by accident Serge had sauntered into the hut in search of some odd or end he had leant a few days ago. Harle was in his tow.   
"Ah!" He replied, ducking his head down and running out of the room. "Sorry!...sorry! So sorry!" He could be heard calling his apologies over and over as he ran further away.   
"The nerve of that man, he knew this dress is supposed to be a surprise." Leena shrugged and smiled. How could he have forgotten? Ah! Men!" And her foot hit the ground to complete her frustrated exclamation. Harle suddenly found herself painfully alone in a group of people she didn't fit in very well with.   
"Why hello there Harle!" One of the woman called from the herd about Leena. "How's your leg? Feeling better?"   
"Uh... oui! Of courze! You have all been zuch great hoztessez!" Harle had to regain herself. It was a time to mingle about. She had never had trouble being with others. In fact she felt most adept and political when with people, and could talk easily with many. Perhaps only her jester's outfit would keep peoples mouths shut when they neared her. But that changed once they began to talk with her.   
"How do you think the dress looks so far?" Leena asked Harle.   
"It iz très beau!" Harle responded without hesitation. "Zhat iz to zay... very beautiful!"   
"Do you really think so?" Leena asked, bubbling over at the emotional response from Harle.   
"Ah oui! Of course Leena! You look like zhe flowerz in zhe meadow! Zhe white onez of courze..."   
"Of course!" Leena was even more delighted.   
"Here!" One of the woman suddenly came forward and pulled Harle into the midst of them. "Take some sewin' thread and get at it! We could use someone with such great eyes!"   
"Oui! I would be delighted!" And within moments Harle was whisked into the thicket of the dress-making frenzy. She could almost let herself get caught away in it, except for the stark knowledge that only her flattery got her any closer to being normal in this tiny village. At least though, the villagers were being more tolerate of her since she was around and about so much. Harle's smile was truly complete, only when she hard a sharp sigh from Kid. Was she feeling left out? The human? While the demi-human was part of the crowd? What a delicious taste of revenge. And so the time passed...   
"...and so, Serge was sitting there eating his favorite food, my own special Four-Lettuce Soup of course, and he's telling me about his brand new fishing set he had built from...." Little snatches of conversation filtered through Harle's ear and mind. That one portion though, seemed to have greater meaning then the rest. Words began to well up in her throat, even as she conversed and spoke with the woman all around her. They all disgusted her, but for some reason she found herself needing them. She needed their support. Needed their support? That was ridiculous! It was time to end this right now. No! She could not be alone anymore! But it was too late, and her mouth opened.   
"Serge'z favorite food iz not four lettuzz zoup." Harle heard herself say. The room fell into silence immediately.   
"What do you mean?" Leena asked.   
"Serge doez not like zhe zoup! Tail Fish, zhat iz what hiz favorite food iz." She only knew this of the many times Serge had said it on their travels. He always asked for it when they ate at an inn or restaurant, even when he was Lynx-Serge. And whenever possible he seemed, at least, to avoid soups.   
"And how do you know that?" Leena became defensive quickly. Harle wished she could stop herself, but the words would flow even if her lips were sealed shut.   
"Why don't you azk him right now?" Harle suggested, feeling herself being pushed away from the crowd with mental hands, and distant gestures.   
"I will!" Leena grunted and complained in angry whispers as she labored to take off the gigantic wedding dress. Finally uncovered she threw a robe on over her white slip and went to find Serge. Only a few moments passed before Leena dragged Serge back into the hut. "So all these people can hear me, I want you to promise me that my Four-Lettuce Soup is your favorite food."   
"But I...!" Serge had been totally disarmed by the question. It almost didn't seem fair. "...I..."   
"Well?" Leena waited expectantly.   
"...No." Serge finally admitted. "I love your soup! It's just that...."   
"Tail Fish." Harle whispered.   
"How did you...?" Serge looked up in shock, but not nearly as shocked as how Leena felt. With desperate yelp she fled the room. And the woman were in an uproar. Who did this Harle think she was? Of course Serge liked the soup the best!   
"I think you had better leave." Serge uttered to Harle.   
"That's right ya freak." Kid finally joined in. "Ya hadda go and spoil it for everyone didn't ya?" And it was Kid's turn for revenge. But somehow, it felt unbalanced.   
"I waz juzt zoup Serge." Harle appealed. "I am zorry, I did not mean...."   
"Leave Harle." Serge replied. "I will come to you later."   
"But..."   
"Ya deaf, clown girl?" Kid asked.   
"Very well." Harle shrugged and left the hut. She didn't mean to cause such a ruckus. But it was only the matter of some stupid soup! Why had everyone gotten so very upset with her? But deep down, she knew why. She had known, the moment she began to puke forth her words onto Leena's white ears. Perhaps she was some sort of glutton for pain, and loneliness. Besides, she wasn't truly welcomed in this village. And rocking the boat as she had just done, wouldn't help her in any way. And so, walking stiffly on her leg she stepped to the outskirts, and beyond. 

  
For many hours she walked back and forth through the forests around Arni. Up and down the shoreline she trod, hoping the walking would clear up her head. She could feel the open road calling her. But it was not the sing-song call she had always loved to listen and dance to. It was a shriek of terror, mesmerizing her only because of its convenience. She had to leave, was this the time? But she felt herself bound to the village still. It was a shackle that she dragged along, heavy and unyielding. Something had yet to occur to set her free from Arni and unlock her invisible bindings.   
And that was when she found the clearing. It wasn't more then half a mile from the village, but it was well hidden in the forests and trees. Ten feet in diameter the clearing grew, covered in field grass that rose a few inches from the ground. Standing in the clearing's very center was a small stone table with squares etched into its surface. Sitting on the squares were little figures of stone. It was a stone chess set, archaic yet preserved in its eternal form. Sitting behind the stone chess table on a pillar seat, made of the same gray cut stone, was Radius.   
"I have been expecting you for some time." Radius commented. He touched one of the pieces, with an extended index finger, setting the pawn on edge. "What kept you?"   
"You have been waiting pour moi?" Harle asked innocently. It wasn't possible he heard about what she had done, was it?   
"I have heard about what you have done." Of course he did. It would have been too easy otherwise. "Please, sit down with me."   
"If you are only going to talk down to moi, I would razher not."   
"Please." Radius gestured to the pillar seat again. "Just for a little while."   
"Very well, old man, but you had better watch your tongue, non?" She smiled an almost wicked smile. "I have non loyaltiez too you."   
"Do you know how to play chess?" Radius began to set up his side of the chess board, moving each of the black stone pieces into the necessary squares. His words came, without a glance. For the moment, his attention seemed focused solely on the chess board. It was a disarming position for his mind to be, and Harle let her spirit settle.   
"Oui.... a little..." She pinched her fingers together, almost touching, to signify 'a little'.   
"Will you join me for a game?"   
"If you insist." Harle began to set up her side of the table. It had been, such a long time since she had sat to such a game. Did the rook go on that space? Or at the end? The king was on the right of the queen? Would Radius dare laugh, if she set her side up wrong?   
"You seem nervous?" Radius stated with a crotchety giggle. How had he known that? "Don't worry, I am a gracious opponent." And the game began. It continued for nearly thirty minutes in silence. Click, pause, click, as their turns passed and they tapped their pieces across the squares to move them. Such quiet, was heavy. Harle had nothing to say, she was too embarrassed to speak, and yet she also felt she owed this human no explanation. She existed as a higher being then he! And yet...   
"You know Harle, that after your brace is removed, I will have to ask you to leave." Radius moved his Rook a few spaces. "I would have you stay as long as you like to, but the villagers are too disturbed by your behavior."   
"Zhe village meanz nothing to moi." Harle could not, at that moment, lock eyes with the old man.   
"We both know that to be a lie Harle." Radius sighed a hopeless sigh. "You act strong, and you act gregarious even in your injuries. A care-free attitude drapes you constantly." Harle moved a pawn forward. "But I sense in you much purpose, and determination." He moved a pawn to match her movement.   
And the game continued on in silence again for a long while.   
"Look at this game." Radius said, looking down onto the progressing battle. "Each movement is a great compilation of the calculation of possibilities and risks. It is much like life. A thoughtless move can cost you dearly." He moved a piece, capturing Harle's Queen piece.   
"Oui." Harle agreed. She made her move, and looked up with a satisfied smile. "Check."   
"Ah!" Radius held up a single index finger. "But as thoughtless moves can cost you much, well planned actions can sometimes do better then you think. Checkmate." And Radius moved the final portion of his strategy into play, trapping the King.   
"You were juzt toying with moi, non?"   
"Perhaps." Radius grinned a slanted hidden grin.   
"What waz zhis all really about?"   
"I don't want you to leave here and have nowhere to go." Radius finally commented. "Right here, with my help, I want you to make a decision about where your life will take you."   
"What do you mean?"   
"I know that you are more then you seem. You look so familiar, but I cannot remember. But there is turmoil in you, I can see it in your eyes. They are not as bright as they could be, they move with confusion. It is as if a value you once held high, has come crashing down, and you are unsure if you should place faith in it any longer."   
"Ha! You know nozhing! I am not like zhat at all!" She smiled and laughed, putting on her best face. But his soft and old eyes, burnt away her defense. They were on fire, with passionate compassion. Was this the trait of a leader, seasoned with time? Harle let her smile drip from her face. Just then, it did neither of them any good.   
"Have you any idea on where you will go after you leave this village? A plan of some sort?" His question seemed helpful, but to Harle it was very hard to answer. She had two options, and each could define an entire path for the rest of her life. It was such a commitment, and perhaps that was half of the problem. Since the Omni-Dragon fell to pieces, and she had been brought back to Home World, her dedication to the Dragons fell severely damaged. Genocide! Who had the right to execute genocide! No one, not even the Dragons who called themselves gods. And then there was the strange voices in her dreams. Every night for many days a voice invaded her peaceful dreams, urging her to go to...Euore... What was this Euore? And why was it so important? Yet it was. She could feel it. It almost felt as if the name itself was familiar. So it came down to one decision. She needed to find the Dragons and reassemble them to the Omni-Dragon and try one more time to destroy all humanity, or she could think or herself instead of her masters, and find Euore wherever it lies.   
"Duty to ozherz, or duty to zelf. If you had zhis choice, what would you chooze?" Harle pushed a smile onto her face. Her lips were strong, having sported such an expression every day of her life. It was the time to shield herself from Radius, even if it hurt. He could never be allowed to see behind her ever-white skin.   
"Duty to others, or duty to myself." Radius touched his fingers to his chin, and pondered the question. "I'm sorry Harle, the question is difficult, impossible without knowing where you are coming from."   
"You zeem to know zo much, non? But you know very little, lezz zhen you think." Harle pointed out with her typical smile and waving her index finger about. Radius did not argue. She was hoping he would, that he would show weakness in this discussion. But he refrained. Instead he pulled his hand out of his pocket.   
"Take this Harle." Radius finally said, his voice low and almost disappointed. "I don't know how I found it. I had it on my grid one day after I woke up from a long dream..." Radius fell into deep thought.   
"A HealAll? I cannot uze zhis element." Harle tossed the valuable cure element back across the chess table. She was hopping the gesture would cause Radius to use it on her. That much power, in that element, could mend her legs in moments instead of months.   
"You have no green energies in you?"   
"Non."   
"Then allow me Harle...Harle...." He said the name twice, his mind was twisting and bending and he was hard pressed to keep up. "Harle... the Lunar Dragon. Does that ring a bell? Lunar Dragon..." He was unsure where that title came from. It seemed lofty for the clown girl sitting before him.   
"Zhe Lunar Dragon?" Harle's heart skipped a beat. "Non!" She waved her hand at him as if to instantly dismiss it. "Do not talk in zuch fairytalez!"   
"I don't know of any Lunar Dragon fairytale." Radius replied, still concentrating hard.   
"You know what I mean." Did he know? Was he just playing this whole time pushing her to confess her nature?   
"Ah, its useless." He gave up, and snapped the HealAll into his grid. He lifted up a hand, the energy draining from the shimmering metallic grid he grasped. With a sudden burst of green and white light healing energies poured over Harle. Bone shifted, skin gave birth to skin, and blood coursed through her leg. And in the next moment it was all over. "There. Now be off with you. I am sorry I couldn't be of more help." Harle felt her leg suddenly strengthen in the brace. And compassion touched her distantly as she starred at the confused old man.   
"What if I told you, zhat I waz conceived to deztroy humanity?" She asked, rising to her feet. That would be tantilizing enough, for Radius to ponder.   
"I would have to say you haven't done such a great job so far!" Radius chuckled to himself, but his joke faded when he saw Harle's smile disappear.   
"Don't joke. I'm Seroiuz."   
"Serious?" Radius nodded to himself. He knew she was. And this 'Lunar Dragon' thing was more then she would let it seem. "You asked before, would I follow duty to others, or duty to myself. You didn't say duty to loved ones or friends so I would have to say that these 'others' are not in the highest regards to you. I also think you have already pursued one of these duties before. If it has brought you here, to a dead end, then perhaps it's time to try your other duty, your other path." The advice came suddenly, but as instantly as it came, at the same speed Harle made up her mind.   
"Hmm, you may be zmarter zhen I firzt thought, non?" She wobbled over to the old man, blinked once, and pecked a small kiss on his nose. "But I muzt be off." With a surge of strength she tore off the wooden brace. "Ourevoir Monsieur Radius! May we meet again!"   
"Goodbye Harle!" Radius was red with embarrassment at the kiss, and he waved foolishly and wildly. "Good luck!" Soon she was gone, over the horizon, as quickly and mysteriously as she came. But he knew he had not yet seen nor heard the last of her. Something here didn't seem right. Perhaps it was time for some serious meditation. 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	4. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 3

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 3 - "The Rockin' Bard Rocks Again" -=- 

"Hey!" Kid suddenly called from somewhere behind her. But Harle didn't stop. It had been too long since she could run with her arms flailed out as if running to embrace someone, or no-one at all. Her heart pumped blood through her body, the vigor of youth flooded her mind. "Hey I said! Stop it ya freak! Slow down!" She knew that after Radius healed her, she could not stay another moment at Arni. It was too painful. She needed to find Euore, and Termina was the place to go and start her hunt. Trees. They were everywhere. They reached down but their limbs were to slow to catch her. "Listen! Ya' better stop!" Suddenly there was a crackle of energy as the ground tore open and a pillar of fire exploded into the air before Harle. Finally she stopped, to avoid the fire. "There!"   
"Ugh... what do you want, hmm? I am in a hurry."   
"I think ya want ta read this." Kid finally caught up to the harlequin, smiling. Glittering death, her spent FirePilar fell to the ground at her feet. Clutched in her other hand was a rolled up piece of paper. It was fresh, and white. Paper? A not-so-precious commodity so far from civilization.   
"What?" Harle asked impatiently. If Kid wanted a fight, she sure was taking her time. Grasping the paper with a rough snatch Harle unfurled the notice. It was... a wanted poster? Scribbled across the poster's face was her picture. Her picture!? And across the bottom in bright bold black ink, printed with morbid precision lay the words: "WANTED: HARLEQUIN - 600,000 GOLD REWARD - MUST BE ALIVE - CALLS HERSELF HARLE - VERY DANGEROUS"   
"Iz zhis zome kind of joke?" Harle crumpled up the paper and threw it the ground. "Or are you zhis dezperate to kill moi?"   
"Me? I didn't make the poster." Kid's smile was turning very vicious very quickly. "I found it nailed ta a post at Arni. I hear that these posters are everywhere, even as far as Termina." Kid wrapped her hand around her dagger, her sharpest fang.   
"It zayz alive." Harle waved her finger back and forth in a scolding manor. "If I am ztabbed with zhe dagger, you will loose zhe bounty, non?"   
"No." Kid replied. "I ain't gonna kill ya, just poke ya a little. Doesn't say nothin' 'bout no pokin'."   
"Poke hmm? We shall zee." Harle suddenly leapt backwards as Kid's first lunging attack left her off balance. With a quick leap Harle flipped through the air and planted her feet on Kid's head. Kid fell promptly to the ground, but tumbled and flew upright. They stood across from each other. Kid was not smiling anymore, the injuries she had counted on in Harle's leg seemed all but gone.   
"Ya leg looks real healthy." Kid pointed out angrily, indicating Harle's bad leg. But it wasn't bad anymore. Didn't matter. She'd take the freak out with her own two hands, fair and square.   
"Ah oui! You noticed! How kind!" Harle afforded a quick glance down at her leg. The blue pant fabric was all but completely torn away. She would have to fix it when she arrived at Termina. In that one moment Kid was on her again, and almost plunged her blade into the same leg with a low sweep.   
"Zhis iz zilly." Harle finally commented. "I cannot fight you without mon deck of cards, or zteel shot at leazt, non? I am zhe zitting duck."   
"Well why don't ya sit still like a good lil' duck!" Kid lunged again. She was too angry to fight straight, her blows forceful but meaningless.   
"Non." Harle turned serious just for a minute. "It iz not zhe time or place to zettle zhis little fight." Just out of sight Harle yanked two black elements from amidst the folds of her leather clothing. She had them there just in case, since she had first dawned the costume. Finally, years later, they would come to use. "May we meet again Madamozelle Kid!" Harle grasped her FreeFall and cracked the casing of the element, releasing the energy.   
"FreeFall? Ha! Gonna have to do better then... what are you doing!?" Kid noticed Harle turn the element back on herself. With a sudden sucking sound Harle shot up hundreds of feet into the air. She let the element keep her soaring upwards, one hundred, four hundred, seven hundred... a thousand feet! She could see Termina from this height. And with that she cracked the second element, a Gravity Blow. Once again she turned the element on herself. The gravity de-stabilized around her and she careened towards Termina with great speed.   
"Ooooouuuuurrreevvviiiooorrr!" She shouted down on the tiny patch of forest where Kid was standing. Only screaming whispers of curse words could be heard on the wind. 

The flight didn't take her all the way to Termina, but got her clear over Fossil Valley. With her last element, a second Gravity Blow, she managed a raunchy but safe landing. It was only a few short miles to Termina, and Kid was very far behind (if she even had the gall to pursue).   
Politics and talk of full scale Porre invasion was the decoration of the city now. But world affairs never really bothered Harle. She didn't need the world right now, she only needed Euore. And of all the places in El Nido, this was the place to come for information and to book travel. Now, especially since she could not phase shift, she needed to travel like the humans did, by boat. But first, where was Euore? 

"Hey there beautiful, can I give you a hand?" A voice, heavy with over-exaggerated masculinity sputtered forth his slimy greeting. He stood behind her, perhaps for some time before Harle granted him notice. She had been starring up at the large world map for several minutes in the Termina library. Euore was not highlighted anywhere on it.   
"Oui." Harle turned to see who had spoken. It was a slim man, who couldn't be more then twenty years old. Such a big goofy smile, Harle wondered if she could copy such a grin even if she wished to. His face was plain, but bright with useless hope. Long tresses of blue hair framed his hope, each strand kept shimmering and perfect. And his clothes, were expensive to say the least. Such an impressive ball of perversion. It was the blue hair, like Serge. That one fact saved him. "Do you work in zhe library?"   
"Ah, yeah." The man shrugged. "Part-time, I help organize books and stuff. Helps pay the bills you know? My name's Flint. What are you lookin' for on the map there?" Harle turned back to the map, waiting a dramatic moment or two.   
"I am looking for a village, named Euore. Have you heard of it?"   
"Not off hand beautiful, but its not in El Nido is it?" Flint began to walk away from the map. "Come on beautiful! You aren't gonna find it on that map."   
"Whatever you zay... Slim."   
"Slim?"   
"You call moi 'beautiful', I call you 'Slim', non?"   
"Alright alright, no pet names." Flint shrugged.   
"Je' Mappelle Harle."   
"Harle it is." And together the two walked off towards a wing of the library that Harle had yet to traverse. In the wooden cabinets were just a few (not more then forty or so) volumes of books having to do with the outside world. For a place with thousands of titles, the Termina library seemed very absorbed with El Nido.   
"I can find Euore in one of zhese bookz?"   
"Maybe." Flint shrugged. "Worth a shot. I'll give you a hand for awhile."   
"You don't have to do zhat." Perhaps, he wasn't as bad as Harle had allowed him.   
"Nah, I don't mind." Flint grabbed one of the older books off the shelf and flipped to the table of contents page, and then to the index. " 'sides, being an assistant librarian when your twenty-two years old, isn't that challenging. I don't mind helping you out beauti-uh-Harle."   
"Merci zhen, Sli-uh-Flint." Harle smiled back with her tiny mouth and picked up her own volume and began to read.   
Even with Flint's help the volumes of books would take a great deal of time to examine. There were forty-seven volumes of books categorized as 'World Reference'. Several atlases where among them, and every book was of considerable age. Perhaps the library should have spent some of its excess money on books on the outside world. Such close-mindedness was probably the cause of the paranoia gripping Termina. If they just opened their thick skulls up a little and read about Porre, maybe they could finally stop murmuring about it.   
Three and a half hours crawled by, with Flint and Harle stopping only momentarily to stretch their legs and crack their backs.   
"It iz getting late. I muzt make arrangmentz to ztay overnight." Harle slammed a book shut. Dust sprayed out into the air. They had gotten through twenty or so books in those hours, and Harle's eyes were getting fuzzy and her body tugged at the chair, restless.   
"Uh, yeah sure. Hey listen, if you come back tomorrow just look for me. I'll help you again if you need me to." Flint was, what many normal teenage girls would call a 'cute' 22 year old. Harle wasn't interested in him very much, but for now she allowed a brief gladness for the company. It had been some time since she had spoken with someone like him, so civilized, and he didn't want to kill her yet. That was always a plus.   
"Uh...oui! But of courze!" Harle smiled and nodded her head. The bells on her coxcomb jingled, and the library echoed for a moment with the jingling.   
"Good. If you need anything else Harle, just come to me. I know allot of guys in this town, and they owe me allot of favors."   
"I do need zomething if you can find zhem pour moi."   
"I'll give it my best shot. Whaddaya need?"   
"Throwing cardz, and elementz."   
"Combat items huh? You planning on fighting someone?"   
"Non, juzt being cautious   
"Yeah right." Flint nodded and smiled. He didn't believe her, but that was none of his business. Luckily (for him) he didn't pry further into it. "I'll see what I can do."   
"I will pay whatever you need."   
"Alright, we'll talk about that if I can find that stuff. Elements would be no problem, you can even go and get those yourself at Lisa's down near the south entrance arch. But throwing cards, now those might take some doing."   
"I'll get zhe elementz zhen, you juzt worry about zhe cardz." Harle piled up the reference books neatly on a table and began to lave. "Oureveoir, till zhe morrow."   
"Yeah, see ya latter." 

Time was slipping away from Harle. She could almost feel it sifting through her hands and out into eternity. Termina blazed with dots of lights, sparkling souls. She had walked across the stone paths, and stood before the statues before. But the last time, she had different thoughts roaming her head. With all this running about and occupying her mind with other things she thought the hurting would stop. But it ached on, and she tried not to think abut it. She had to move on. The world had changed, in the simple way that it had forgotten her. Forgotten... her? This fact, it finally birthed in her the realization of her own mortality and humanity. Only a human could need humans so much. Yet she was a dragon! And she felt a deep need to be remembered, to be loved by someone, cared for and taken care of by someone. Lynx. The first things that she could remember had happened many years ago. She was Harle, the Lunar Dragon, on a mission to unite the dragons yet entangling herself more and more in humanity. Lynx was weak. Though his mind was warped and distorted by FATE, Wazuki was horrified by what he had become. Humanity seemed to be laughing at him collectively. All he needed was a sympathetic ear... a female ear... and he fell into her power. Yes, he was abusive, even more so when he acquired Serge's body, but, something, she... she felt needed when he spoke to her. When they were alone at night, sharing a campfire or some such thing, he would speak and she would listen silently. And though she fought it tooth and nail, compassion was felt. But compassion was overridden by duty, and she had to be with Serge-Lynx, her other conflict, to complete her quest.   
The leaves on the forest ground crunched a little as she stretched herself out upon them. It was comfortable, and she wasn't choosey. To be angry at the leaves, to be angry at her body for needing a bed, would be like being angry at Serge for weaving his spell upon her. Life was life. And Harle was Harle. It would all work out, one way or the other.   
Serge. He was her precious commodity. "Dream of moi!" she had said. But yet, she had dreamt of him more often then she had dreamt for anyone. Whatever compassion she felt for Lynx, she felt for Serge but at a level she could not even comprehend herself. And all their adventures... and the songs... and the campfires... the... the... friends...........and Harle slept..... 

"Hey! Hey Mattaeo!" Flint walked into the back alley with a grin on his face. "How's it going! Long time no see!" Flint lifted a hand as if asking for a high-five or some such greeting. He received nothing from the other figure.   
"Shut up." Mattaeo replied. What a vile creature Mattaeo was, even compared to Flint. It seemed corruption was this man's cloak, covering his black suit and exhaling with every puff of cigar smoke. Baldness, shimmering baldness seemed to cap Mattaeo's lack of height. And a moustache, simple, straight, tasteless crowned his upper lip. "You shouldn't be here Flint, you owe me allot of money."   
"I know Matt! I know! But I've got a surprise for you!"   
"I don't like surprises." Mattaeo found himself sandwiched between two large and muscled men dressed in armor and carrying nasty looking swords. "My friends here don't like surprises either, and they don't like guys who stiff 'em on loans."   
"Hehe! No..heh! Stop wait a second! Listen to me!" Flint stepped back defensively, but Mattaeo rose a hand, stopping his "boys" from doing anything just yet.   
"Alright. I'm a generous man, don't forget that, what do you got for me Flint?"   
"You know that girl on the wanted poster, Harle?"   
"You're boring me Flint."   
"Uh, yeah right! ... uh ... umm... you see I've met her at the library and I was helping her look through books, pretending I was a worker."   
"So you saw the harlequin, what of it?"   
"I'm gonna see her tomorrow, and then pay for her to stay at the hotel in town. You can send your boys to ambush her, and that bounty will pay you back double what I owe!" Flint waited expectedly, with a big smile on his face.   
"Alright." Mattaeo was willing to make a deal, rather than kill Flint just yet. "I'll send my boys to meet you at the Inn, six o'clock PM... sharp... don't screw it up Flint."   
"I wont Mattaeo! Thanks! Thank you so much!"   
"Stop whining, you haven't got the girl yet."   
"Yes sir! But I will! I will!" 

"You sewed up your pants there?" Flint asked, nodding towards Harle's patched up pantaloons.   
"Oui." Harle wore large reading glasses around her fire eyes, starring down into the pages of the books before her. She hadn't mentioned it to Flint just yet, but she had found Euore in one of the oldest books. It had only been mentioned in passing, but it did give a general location. Harle was pouring over an atlas, trying to match the pictures there, with the description in the book. Needless to say, she wasn't wishing to be distracted.   
"Uh... I noticed you slept out of town last night. You camp or somethin?"   
"Oui." Harle let the word exhale out of her mouth, warning the human.   
"Right." Flint nodded. "Would you like to sleep in a hotel tonight?" Harle took of her glasses to look up at Flint. He smiled hopefully.   
"You have helped moi a great deal. But zhat iz a bit too high a price, non?"   
"No! I mean yes! I mean, that's not what I meant. I wouldn't sleep with you in the hotel, just you can have the room to yourself, like a gift."   
"Hmm." Harle shrugged finally. "Whatever you zay." The sticks had prodded her back all night long and she ached. 

Harle stood out on the balcony of the hotel. She let the sea breezes touch her nostrils. But only with her permission, could any force come so close. In the distance, the SS. Albetress was docked and its great masts prodded heavenward in tall grandeur. The Magical Dreamers were aboard that ship. Nikki and Mikki especially. The ship had made port in Termina after an entire week of encore performances at Marbule beach. After Fargo and Nikki had reconciled, the Magical Dreamers had stayed in El Nido for two more weeks and were here to this day. But they would be leaving tomorrow to a port conveniently near Euore, or where Euore should be. They would be a great mode of transportation... if Harle could sneak aboard.... But a yawn touched her, and she sucked in the air while her eyes half closed. And she turned back to her room. Flint said he would be stopping by to see how the room was, she was ready for him. She knew what he wanted. 

"Hey guys!" Flint called to the two armored mercenaries who walked into the lobby. Everyone knew them to be gangster thugs, and left them alone. Guards coughed, and looked away, and peasants scurried from one place to another. Only Flint approached. "Was waiting for you to get here."   
"Whatever." One of them said. "Go up and check on 'er. Come back in twenty minutes and we'll go nab 'er."   
"And if your screwing us..." The other added.   
"Honest! No joke!" Flint laughed weakly and proceeded to move towards the stairway up to the second floor. The door closed and the thugs sat down to wait.   
And they waited... and waited... and waited... and an hour passed.   
"Lets go check on them."   
"I'd bet they're making whoopee up there." The other agreed and the two went upstairs to Harle's room. With one unified kick the door flew off the hinges. Sure enough, there was some wiggling motion just under the bed covers.   
"Couldn't keep your hands to yourself could you?" One of the thugs threw off the bed sheet. Bound in a cord from head to foot and gagged with a wad of cloth was Flint. A message was tied to his neck written in red lipstick.   
"Not as easy as I look." It read.   
"Gah! She tricked him!" 

Trunks, boxes, racks of gaudy clothes (or leather straps), all sorts of strange props and items littered the hold. So much pushed upon Harle a crowded feeling, but with such unique things by her, it was not entirely unwelcome. It seemed that the reputation of this singing group had not been ill-founded. Spectacular shows were the only logical product of the hold's treasures. To keep the props company, lanterns burned at each beam of the wooden hold. They scared the ghosts away, and cast dancing shadows of their own. But, it was not bright, nor was it dark to blindness. It was a moving light that Harle enjoyed the most. For such light, always seemed to bend about her hand, and to her will.   
As Harle sifted through the numerous containers, pulling and twisting with childish curiosity, she wondered if Flint's boss, or whoever had sent him to her, had discovered him yet. Or maybe the hotel maid would! Wouldn't that be funny to watch? It was obvious Flint wasn't a library worker, she remembered him back when Serge-Lynx had taken her to Termina, on Harle's last adventure. Flint had tried to steal something from her, and she had nearly broken his spine. Perhaps the Chrono Cross had not cursed her entirely. Flint had forgotten her, while she had remembered. And Harle wouldn't cry. Tears, only smudged her cheap Arni makeup.   
"All hands prepare to set sail!" The muffled cry of the ship's captain shouted just above her on the ship's forward deck.   
"I am coming ztrange voice in mon dreamz. Wait pour moi." And she lay back across the top of a red trunk. 

"... I don't think she's dead...."   
"Ewww! Don't touch her Nikki!"   
"She's NOT dead Mikki."   
"But she looks like she is..."   
Harle's eyes opened to the rather annoying alarm clock, or rather the banter of the two above her.   
"She's opening her eyes!" Nikki, the Rockin' Bard stood just above the slumbering harlequin.   
"....Ah!" Harle suddenly leapt up and backwards realizing she had been found already.   
"Who are you?" Nikki asked, suddenly thrusting Mikki behind himself defensively. His voice was just as smooth as she remembered, a gift to a trained musical professional.   
"Be calm mon ami, I am juzt zhe little harlequin, nozhing zcary..." Harle lifted her hands, trying to gesture for calmness. She suffered from a silent frenzy, controlled and refined into a sense of battle. For a moment she wondered if it would be worth it just to rip open a black hole element and take out these two where they stood. Her hand could not move against them, even if she truly wished to do so. It would be like slaughtering pleasant memories.   
"What are you doing down in our hold?" Mikki shouted out from behind Nikki. She didn't move, she enjoyed the attention Nikki was lavishing on her.   
"None of your buizness!"   
"This is our ship harlequin woman." Nikki warned. "It is our business."   
"I needed to get acrozz zhe ocean to Teodorrin."   
"That is where we are headed. Is that why you stowed away?"   
"Oui."   
"I cant say that I am happy to see you..." Nikki visibly relaxed, his bare chest heaving downward. "...but at least you aren't here to kill us or something like that." What a far-reaching assumption. Not only did Harle have reason to kill them all (and take over their ship of course), but she had the means to do see, instantly. But something still prevented her from acting with such thoughtless violence. Nikki, was acting so painfully innocent. It was, as if he had done this many times in the past.   
"I'm sorry but we are going to have to lock you in the brig, until we reach port. You did stow away after all." Nikki stepped forward, unafraid. "Mikki, go tell the captain we have a stow away, I am bringing her to the brig myself."   
"Okay." And she was gone.   
This place had a brig? Sure, a full stage complete with special effects and pyrotechnics maybe, but a brig? Harle cooperated wordlessly. If they would let her ride, she had no reason to stir up any blood. Once they reached port, she would escape and make for Euore. Nikki didn't use any physical force whatsoever, not even a binding for the clown's wrists. He simply lead her through the bowels of the ship until they reached a tiny room. Half was barred off and was apparently the holding area. The other half had some chairs and was probably where the guard would have sat.   
"I am really sorry about this." Nikki opened the cell door and waited for her to enter.   
"Not az zorry az I am." Harle smiled and stepped daintily into the cell. The bars slammed into place with an ominous crash. And the key turned in the lock, and Harle was a prisoner for now.   
"We wont leave you here to starve. Someone will be back later with something for you to eat. Its a long voyage, you would have been very hungry if you had stayed in that hold." Nikki smiled partially. "You aren't a fan of mine...are you?" He moved the accent to make the question seem more like a statement. He had seen many fans in his time, and many have stowed away (making this sort of thing routine for Nikki). But she didn't seem to be particularly impressed with meeting him. And this was a reaction he was not used to.   
"Non, I am not zhe fan." Harle flopped down on the wooden bed, hoisted her legs up, laid back and propped up her head to continue to look at Nikki. She made and extra effort to seem completely relaxed.   
"Well, the stage is just two feet above you..." He pointed upwards. "...through the ceiling. I hope you will become a fan by the time we reach port in two days." And Nikki was gone. But it wasn't the last time they would meet. Indeed, as long as no one was harassing her, Harle let herself become quite comfortable down in the brig. And in only a few moments, the melody of rehearsal began to waft down through the rafters. It was that Marbule spiritual. She had never seen it performed, but she had heard its melody in passing. It had become quite popular a tune, and the message that went with it drew two races together unlike any other.   
For hours they practiced. The method of practicing made Harle feel comfortable, and at the center of something interesting though she was so far away. They would play some notes, stop, discuss, and continue. There were arguments (mainly between the backup singers and sometimes Mikki would join in too) and there were also points where the group sounded as if they had been doing this all their lives (indeed they probably had). Such beauty bound to a frail creature, called man. How easily it was crushed, and mangled, and twisted to evil. But somehow, it never died.   
"Hello." A young lady walked in carrying a tray of steaming liquid, and a smile.   
"Bonjour." Harle rose to her feet.   
"Are you going to run away if I open the cell door to give you this?"   
"Non." And Harle was sincere, though she wondered what would happen if Lynx was with her. Would this poor girl even survive?   
"Okay." She opened the door and placed the food on a stool in the cell. "It's soup, soup that tastes like toilet water with salt. But that's what you get when your on tour." She closed the cell door and with a wave and stepped out of the room again leaving Harle to her meal. 

"Harlequin woman?" The call came through the darkness of the midnight hour, but Harle was awake. She had not heard anyone enter the brig and she could not see anything in this darkness. But she recognized the voice, and the smell of pampered flesh.   
"Oui? Nikki?"   
"I am sorry, to have disturbed you this late."   
"It iz of non conzequence."   
"May I ask you a question?"   
"Not a perzonal one I hope."   
"No, just a question."   
"Oui, what iz zhe question?"   
"Who are you?"   
"Moi?"   
"You."   
"I am a dream." Harle replied. And her answer was as close to the truth for this boy as any other answer could possibly be.   
"I have... dreamt a dream." Nikki said with difficulty. "Actually, it was just pieces of an epic dream I had once several weeks ago. I don't remember it well, but you were in it.... you called yourself... Harle."   
"Oui, Je'mepelle Harle."   
"You never told me your name. Strange, that I learned it from a dream."   
"You are fishing for answerz from moi."   
"Maybe." Nikki sat down on the floor, she could hear the sharp exhale and the rustling sound as he settled himself down. "But I do feel as though I have seen you before, and the dreams are not lies. I know there is more to you then that leather outfit you have on." Nikki could not see, in the night of the ship, but a lone tear slid down Harle's face. Was this Hell? Had the Flame placed her in Hell? It might as well have. To live in a world where friends and even enemies know you as nothing more then a dream dreamt long ago, was just moments beyond insanity in Harle's own mind. She was alone, and if she continued like this, she would be stuck in the past forever. And maybe that's just what the Frozen Flame wanted. And that was why she HAD to get to Euore. Euore was to be the future, and she could escape this painful past. "Harle? Are you alright?"   
"Oui... oui... I am fine."   
"You feel it too don't you? Like we've met before." Nikki seemed almost desperate for the answer to this riddle. "Please, if you do, please admit it to me. I don't want to feel like a complete idiot coming here this late."   
"....I wish... I could tell you everyzhing in mon head. But it iz not pozzible. Perhaps, in zhe future you will underztand moi. Now, truzt moi. Zhe world iz not az simple az your next gig. Remember zhat."   
"I will remember that." Nikki was not superficial. He was talented, and his musical talents had won him fame. And fame had won him a title of 'superficial.' But deep down, he was varied and thoughtful. He would hold these words close to his heart, for he knew they came from a friend. Even if this friend was nothing more then a memory in a dream. 

The ship suddenly shook violently as if a great impact had occurred in it's side. It was a rude awakening for the young harlequin, who had been sleeping so soundly. Nikki was crumpled on the floor. He was asleep as well and his back was resting against the brig wall. With the shaking the two awoke instantly and simultaneously.   
"What was that?" Nikki asked, easily fighting the hysterics that tempted him to cowardice.   
"Go and zee! I'm not going anywhere." Harle urged.   
"Yes, I will be back and let you know." Nikki ran frantically from the brig, his steps quick and heavy. The impact occurred again, and shouts began to emanate from all over the ship like the crowing of birds signaling an intruder. They weren't under attack for there was no sound of cannon fire. Just impacts and screams echoed through the dawn with rhythm. Finally she caught a single word on everyone's lips. "Monsters" Something, not someone, was attacking the ship.   
"We are being attacked by strange blue creatures!" Nikki suddenly shouted as he ran back into the brig. He lunged for the keys mounted on the wall. "Can you fight?"   
"Ha! Oui, I can fight." Harle smiled deviously as Nikki began to run towards the cell with the keys. There was a blue blur and Nikki flew backwards and smashed into the wall. Standing above him was a monster unlike anything Harle had ever seen. It almost looked like a tiny dragon, covered in sea blue scales. It's eyes were blank. And its muscles strained against it's skin as if the whole creature would burst from it's own movement. Strong hind legs, smaller but more controlled forelegs, wings of leather that seemed made for swimming more then flying, the whole thing looked like the Blue Dragon had spit up a tiny replica of himself, but thinner and more agile.   
"Ah!" Nikki crawled back, squishing himself against the wall. "Leave me alone!" He didn't have any means to fight. The monster had knocked him about with a single blow, and Nikki's wits scattered against the wall. No elements, no weapons, nothing at all to fight back with! And the monster rose his claws for the death blow.   
"Non!" Harle shouted throwing herself uselessly against the cell bars. Her strength! Where had it gone? She was like a frail human child! No! He was just as much a part of her memories, as she was apart of his! She wouldn't, she couldn't loose her memories... her past! No! He couldn't die! If at least for her own sake he must stay alive! She was getting frenzied, throwing herself against the jail cell bars over and over. The tiny dragon brought it's claw down ripping a weeping hole in Nikki' chest. He let out a howl of anguish but he was not dead nor unconscious. The creature prepared another blow, with sadistic pleasure, and demonic timing.   
"Non! I will not let you kill Nikki!" Something, some unseen untouchable force deep within her chest, shifted. Her body began to exert energy from her skin and it moved off of her like black glowing vapors. She grasped the bars and tugged at them, snapping them like they were tree branches. Impossible powers came to bear inside of her conflicted soul. "Now....DIE!" She released it all in one emotional wave. The black energies she released flew from her outstretched hand and encircled the water creature. Slowly and ominously the powers began to focus as the mindless beast swatted at the darkness hopelessly. Finally the black came together in one crushing blow. The creature was vaporized to infinity, and he left not even a particle.   
"What was that?" Nikki asked, ignoring his injuries. "That was an element?"   
"OmegaBlack." Harle breathed, black oozing from between her teeth. She felt her own mortality as the energy that hat escaped her caught up with her mind. Screams were still leaping out all over the ship. And suddenly the room began to fill with water.   
"Come on!" Nikki struggled to his feet. "The ships sinking! We've got to get to the life boat!" But, she could not run. Her legs were weak, her spirit all but spent. Gripping his wound with one hand, and Harle in the other, Nikki clamped his teeth together, squinted his eyes, and began to run. The top deck offered little console to the two when they emerged. Blue creatures were everywhere in a large swarm. Most of the ship's crew lay dead or dying, including the backup singers and the manager. Mikki! She was alive, her own will keeping her. Standing, boldly, angrily, sadly, she fired arrows towards the mindless animals from a crossbow she pried from a seaman's stiff fingers. Running, the sound of heavy boots caused Nikki to wrench his neck about towards the lookout.   
"Arg!" The captain suddenly jumped onto the main deck, from above. "Time ta teach these demons the way ta fight a pirate!"   
"What?" Nikki could not release the captain from his view. But it was, perhaps the first time he had studied the elderly man, who looked a bit too muscular for his age. The captain had just been hired for this voyage, but he seemed calm enough and competent. Such poise he possessed in battle, as if he had done this a thousand times before.   
"Come on boy! Lets get at 'em!" The captain tore off his wig, and threw off his beard and pipe. It was Fargo.   
"Dad!?" Nikki exclaimed.   
"Aye! Couldn't let me boy go out to see without his old man!"   
"But Marbule? The Demi-Humans?"   
"Har har!" Fargo drew his sword and began to slash at the dragons, and Nikki was with him, grabbing his electric guitar and tuning the music to harmful vibration wavelengths. "Never felt so alive boy! Had to come with ya! Ever since I found myself again, and you, I think I finally understand! I couldn't leave ya! Not yet!" Fargo swung about and cleaved one of the creatures in two. He felt like a young sailor on the open seas with his wife in the water below him and he fighting off the evils of the sea monsters. Harle, Mikki, Fargo and Nikki fought with all the strength they could muster, but the numbers were too great. They could not beat them back forever. And the ship paced itself, slowly moving downwards into the ocean that it had once ridden so proudly upon.   
"Could you use help Fargo?" A voice suddenly yelled out over the weary battle. With that shout hundreds of mer-people leapt from the ocean and up onto the decks of the ship. Irenes was with them, leading the way with her devastating sound waves. Tridents flew about, wayward spears with three deadly points. Songs, elements, and water abounded on and around the ship.   
"Ah! It's good to see ya!" The battle did not last much longer, and soon the tiny dragons were floating lifelessly in the water as food for the seagulls. Such an un-dramatic end for the lost opposition. Worries melted easily, if not instantly. It took little effort for the mer-people to patch the scuttling craft. And with a hundred warriors in tow, the ship would not fall to monsters that day. 

--- 

"You have been a great help." Nikki extended a hand. "A great friend these last few days Harle." Harle took it in a light grasp. "If you need anything, ask me. I was hopping you could stay with me and my father and Mikki. We have to find new singers and...."   
"Non." Harle touched his lips with a finger to silence him. "Merci, for zhe kind wordz, and zhe kind offer mon ami, but I have much ztill left to do before I can zettle into routine."   
"I understand." Nikki nodded, and finally released Harle's clasped hand. "May fate watch over you."   
"Ha. Fate." Harle turned and began to walk towards the outskirts of Furre. A small port, it had trouble grasping the mighty Albetress. In mid stride, Harle turned back for a moment to look at Nikki. He was still standing there expectantly and earnestly. Woman of all ages began to crowd around him screaming and swooning, but he stood still amidst them and did not loose eye contact with Harle. For several moments they stood there, starring at one another. A taller woman passed in front of Nikki, and when he moved to look around the woman Harle had disappeared.   
"I will see you again, I know it." Nikki finally turned his attention to the fans. "... if only in my dreams..." 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	5. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 4

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 4 - "A Sacrifice of Black" -=- 

  
"Where is the elder?" Serge asked. Weeks turned to days, as the wedding pushed closer. But Radius was gone from the planet. His face had not been seen, in too long. Talk began of death at the hands of bandits, or abandonment by the elder. Serge would not listen to such talk though, forcing his question to be heard continually but without negative response.   
"Last I saw him, he said he was going to Howl Cove to meditate." One of the villagers said as he helped move portions of the cooked wedding feast about. Preparations had been made, and such preparations could only last so long.   
"Meditating?" Serge asked himself. Whatever for? He needed to be here.   
"Serge?" Leena called from one of the huts designated the "bridal changing area". She would not let him see her because she held to some ancient superstitions. "Serge? Have you found Radius yet?"   
"No." Serge called back. "But I have an idea where to look." 

  
Lynx. Lynx. Serge. Leena. Lynx. Serge. Norris. Kash. Dragon. Frozen. Lynx. The images were flashing now quickly before Radius as he sat upon the rock with his legs and arms folded. His eyes were deeply and tightly closed as he forced his mind into emptiness, yet into thought. Dragons, fire and electricity, elements, sadness, pain, Harle, brightness, hope, Arbiter, Serge, everything gone, genocide, hope, death. It was too difficult to get a handle on.   
"Harle. Who are you?" He was getting close, and the sweat poured from his forehead and dripped down all over his face. "Who? WHO?!" The images began to flash closer and closer together. Days had passed, and he had fought for just these images. Memories pulsed with life in his head. He couldn't sort them, he didn't need to, all he needed to do was learn who Harle was and it would all fall together. Songs, sounds, screaming, laughing, pain, joy, love...   
With a screeching halt the images stopped on Harle. The stop was so harsh that Radius let out a sharp exhale. "...they created the seventh dragon. You called her Harle I believe." What was that? "...they created the seventh dragon. You called her Harle I believe." That quote continued to ring in Radius's mind. "...they created the seventh dragon. You called her Harle I believe." Harle! Dragon, seventh, Lunar Child, Lunar, Dragon Lunar, Harle, Dragon goddess, gods, FATE, Dragons, seventh. Prophet of Time. Prophet of time! Harle was the seventh dragon! She was the Lunar Dragon created by the Six Dragon gods to defeated FATE, and to join the six dragons into the Time Devourer! It all came back in a single swell. The adventures, the people, everything! He had broken through a mental barrier that that had been placed in his mind by the Frozen Flame! Time was already disjointed and to allow its heroes to keep their memories could ruin time all over again. But Radius had remembered. He had fought, and won, in a fight against himself.   
"Harle." Radius opened his eyes. "I understand." And now, there was much work to be done. 

---

  
It was impossible. Yet, there it was before her. Her hopes for the future seemed distant now at best. For Harle stood in the center of a ruin. "Ruin" seemed the best word for Euore, for it was a shell of a town that had decades ago been abandoned. Shrubs and weeds had begun to grow all over it pulling the town back to the forests that had once surrounded it. The reason why the inhabitants left was not entirely unapparent. War or battle or some form of destruction had swept through this tiny wooden village and leveled it to the ground. And either everyone died, or everyone picked up the pieces and left. It didn't matter. For whatever reason she was called here, that reason died along time ago.   
Many times in her life she had witness the brutal slaughtering of humans. With Lynx she had never seen so much begging, pleading, screaming and blood. Her mission and heritage made her indifferent though, to Lynx's actions. To her it seemed meaningless and full of unnecessary rage to see such deaths. But never did she stop him or bat an eye. Something though, was different about this place. Deeply, in a place of her soul she had not yet explored, something ached. It was the uttermost sadness of loss. Somehow, this place pulled sadness out of her. Why was she so sad for this village? What was wrong with her? Was there something here that reminded her of something? Reminded her of what? And who had summoned her across two continents to this forgotten town?   
Bells jingled in the distance. Jingle bells, much like her own.   
"Who iz zhere?" She called out towards the sound. It wasn't the wind, she could now distinctly feel someone hidden in the village somewhere. A smell, an attractive smell, the smell of a warrior.   
"Harle? I am glad you made it." The voice came from everywhere, and yet nowhere. It was very familiar to her, only because it was the same voice that had rung through her dreams. The same voice that had dragged her here.   
"You have zome nerve hiding from moi!" She called out. "I have come a long way!"   
"And I am very happy to see you here." A figure jumped off the broken roof and down into a shadow. She could not make him out still, as he stood just beyond the cover of the shadows. "You and I have much to speak about. This place, does it remind you of something?"   
"Moi? Non!" Harle wanted to charge forward and tackle whoever this was, ripping his body down the ground. But something held her back. He had a smell about him, that she could not push through.   
"You do not feel unexplained pain for this ruin? I must say, if I was surprised to see this place deserted, you must be horribly depressed."   
"Why? I am not depressed! Zhis iz ridiculous! Show yourzelf to moi now!"   
"Don't lie to me Harle." The figure laughed very lightly for just a moment. "I know a great deal about you. A great deal indeed. Don't you want to know why you feel sad of this place?"   
"..."   
"Harle?"   
"Gah! You are impossible! Very well, if I waz zad..." And she was. "...why would I feel zhis way?"   
"This is Euore, the town where you were born."   
Harle stepped back a step, her eyes opening wider then she had ever let them open.   
"B...born?"   
"Yes."   
"Non!"   
"I would not lie."   
"NON!"   
"...Harle, this is not that difficult to swallow. You were born here, of a woman named Sparrow eighteen years ago. Something must have happened here, something beyond either of our knowledge to cause the inhabitants to leave." The figure sighed audibly. "I must apologize, I thought this town was still here. Such a long way to come huh? Just for more mystery." Harle was still silent. And he let her dwell in that silence for a moment. Soon she fell to the ground on her knees, her hands gripping the soil and tearing it free. She let the dirt trickle from her palms back onto the ground.   
"I... waz born....here?"   
"You weren't created like you think, well, perhaps you were created. You were created and you were born. It is difficult to explain, even I cannot completely. But you are very unique my little Lunar Dragon."   
"How do you know zhese thingz?"   
"I have been keeping an eye on you..." He finally stepped out into the sunlight. "...for a very long time."   
"Wha-? You! But…?" She looked up at the figure. He was thin for a man, thin and agile. He stunned her, pushing the words back deep into her throat. Inch for inch, he looked almost exactly the same as she did, save his black costume traced with white and silver. Upon his head was a black coxcomb with three tails (instead of her two). Black leathers gripped his torso, and strips of silver cloth ran along the sides of his stomach. A leather pouch, cured black, hung dangling around his neck while several silver and white and black cloth strips held bells upon them like hers. His hands were clothed in black leather gloves. And his legs wore puffed out gray-silver pants that were not translucent like Harle's, but of the same style. And his black shoes curled up at the toes. She felt like she was looking into some backwards mirror, and her eyes roved over his body until they rested onto his face. Masculine but covered in white paint (unless...his skin was stained white like hers?) and below his left eye was a tear (opposite of her), and around his right eye was the painting of a black sun. Totally contrasting to his monotone outfit were three points of blonde hair that streaked downwards in three spikes across his forehead no further then two inches.   
"My name, is Black Harlequin."   
"What are you? Zome kind of ztalker?" She stood upright, backing slightly from him. Something scared her about him, something she could not understand. It was a primitive sense, telling her to run away while the option was still open to her.   
"I have called you here, for two reasons." Black Harlequin turned and leapt up high into the air, flipping and landing in a sitting position on top of one of the houses. The house had once stood much taller, but now it was a crumbling throne for the black clad clown. "Come, sit beside me." She didn't move, but stood where she stood. "Very well." He replied. Shrugging his shoulder he sighed into his explanation. "You see, first, I need to guide you. There is a great power stored away inside of you Harle. The battle with your Serge and his friends had driven it very deeply inside of you. But I will dredge it out. And next, I must protect you from what is coming, until you have this power."   
"Protect moi from what? More ztalkerz?"   
"Ah, sarcastic and witty." Black Harlequin smiled for a moment. "There is a man out there Harle, a very dangerous man who calls himself Spirit, the Dragon Hunter. He can kill you very easily. I am not sure of his motives, but he has gotten one already."   
"It seemz to moi, zhat zhis Frozen Flame, did not clear peoplez mindz well enough, non?"   
"I agree." The other harlequin stated with unexpected simplicity.   
"I wish I could zay it waz nice meeting you, but I muzt be going. Zhis place haz nozhing pour moi."   
"Please." His face, turned soft but his eyes were distant towards the sky. "I cannot let you leave. Spirit the Dragon hunter is near here. He has felt your power and is coming after you. I must help you, can't you see?"   
"Non! You will ztay here!" Hare stamped her foot to indicate the village. "I will go!" And she tossed her arm out behind her towards her former path. "Leave moi alone!" Harle stormed towards the outskirts of the village. She wasn't sure to be angry that the village was abandoned, sad that her quest had ended so quickly, or mystified at Black Harlequin. He, after all, knew a great deal about a great many things.   
"You are being unreasonable." Black called out after her. Such a strong statement stopped her in her tracks, and she turned to face him. With grace that only Harle herself could emulate he leapt from the top of the crumbling building and landed silently just a few feet in front of her. "At least spend the night here. You have come such a long way, to reap nothing at all."   
She starred at him, unemotionally, allowing him to speak whatever it was he had to say. It was then that she noticed he had the most placid silver colored eyes. Their color shook her off guard just a little. Such stunning beauty embedded in the enigmatic human. Where was her beauty? Where was the beauty of a dragon? "We can hunt some small game and make a reasonable meal, and perhaps talk a little bit." Black added, smiling a little with his suggestion. "I'm sure we could find many things to talk about."   
"I..." She let out a defeated sigh, to the delight of Black. "Very well. I will ztay zhe night."   
"Excellent." Black replied with a pointed grin. "We should get to the meal right away before it gets dark. I will go and hunt some small game, do you think you can build a fire or something to cook them on?"   
"Oui, I can build zhe fire." Harle shrugged a little. She didn't enjoy menial labor in the least bit. It wasn't that she was not patient enough for such tasks, but they had always seemed like a waste of time to her because of her overriding mission. But, she didn't have a mission anymore. With that thought Harle's nose wrinkled just a little bit.   
"Are you alright?" Black asked with a gregarious tone.   
"Oui... I... I will begin zhe fire. Go and do zhe hunting." She waved him on towards his task. With a gigantic leap he flew skyward and disappeared altogether. And Harle was alone for the moment.   
First the young jesteress set about cleaning away a suitable camping spot. Debris seemed to be everywhere. Even the clearest portion of the village required that she move several large hunks of shrapnel to a less conspicuous position. But after just a little work she finished her task and began to roam the ruins of Euore in search for some dried wood for a fire. Why go all the way into the forest to search? There had to be ample amounts of spare wood strewn all about the village.   
What she found, was much more numerous then pieces of wood. Bones seemed to lay everywhere, scorched or broken or even still attached to other bones. It was as if a graveyard had spit out it's dead to rot in this village. And as she roamed she began to become curious as to its demise, and even more curious at the growing feeling of loss that burned deep inside of her. Soon her task of gathering fell away as she slowly paced the length of the village and back again. The wide road the cut the town in half, was obviously the main thoroughfare amongst the decimated structures. Small stones scattered about showed that perhaps the road had been layered with gravel or cobblestone, or perhaps it was even paved with something more modern then that.   
Despite the overwhelming evidence of unwanted death (in the form of the bones she so frequently found), she could not find a reason. Broken pottery, rusted pots and cooking wear, half-melted farming tools, dull knife blades and more testified that the village had survived way out in the forest wilderness by hunting and gathering as well as a touch of agriculture. Based on the quality of some of the items she found, she hazarded a guess that they did some limited trading with the nearest village (which must still have been quite far away). Even as she walked she didn't question her meandering thoughts. It felt good to get her mind away from her past, and dwell on another's past.   
With some persistence Harle forced her way into a partially standing residential structure of some sort. She could tell it was a family's home by it's small size and uniform styling to the other structures (or whatever was left of them) in that portion of the village. To her surprise it seemed most of the house was in pretty good shape. Huddled in the corner were three skeletons. There was one large one, holding two small ones. These were once a parent and two children, huddling in terror. Perhaps it was an invasion by Porre or something like that. Or maybe an attack by some other faction? But why attack something as trivial as a forest village way out in the middle of nowhere? And there were no thrown spears, spent arrows, or anything that could testify to battle. The cause of death of the three was obvious. A portion of the wall of the house had exploded inwards and puked shrapnel out in a fatal spray. Large pieces of wood and building materials had wedged themselves in the bodies of the three lost souls. 

  
For some time longer Harle wandered the village in silence, running her hands across the burnt or destroyed buildings. After some walking she saw something colorful underneath the shelter of a fallen beam of wood. Working delicately, as not to destroy what she found she managed to work the object loose. It was a toy stuffed bear, covered in dirt and stinking with rot, but it had a little jesters hat upon it with a red and a blue tail and two little jingle bells that had long since rusted to bright red marbles. The object seemed to throb in her hand. It was as if, she was connected to the object in some way. She tucked the thing under her arm and continued. Eventually when she had some time, she would work to restore the bear back to how it was. She was pretty good with the needle. Not as good as a tailor perhaps but still she would give it a try. It was already heavily damaged, and she could not do more harm to it. 

  
"Harle?" Black's smooth voice suddenly called from behind her. Maybe it wasn't the first time he had called. But so engrossed was she now with her exploration and wanderings she would not have noticed. "Harle?" He called again gently.   
"Oui?" She finally turned to him with a small smile on her face, apologizing and glowing with a slight embarrassment for ignoring him.   
"You have been exploring for almost two hours." He met her smile with one of his own. With his words she finally realized it was getting dark, and the sun had nearly disappeared. "Would you like to eat something?"   
"Zhe fire!" Her eyes snapped open to their full glory. But Black stepped to one side revealing a blazing fire with some rabbit meat cooking over them, suspended on sticks.   
"Whenever you are with me, I will take care of you." Black promised in an emotional way she had yet to hear him speak.   
"Uh... merci." She finally replied a bit uncomfortable at the sudden comment.   
"Come, let us eat." He gestured and he himself sat down in front of the fire. With a dainty tug he pulled one of the rabbits on one of the sticks from the fire and began to nibble on the cooked flesh. Well, at least he cooked his meat, unlike Lynx.   
"So, tell me why you came here." Black requested, between bites. He apparently wanted to engage in small talk. Some comfortable conversation would do her good and she sat across the fire from him, taking her own rabbit.   
"Why?" She asked, taking her first bite. Ah meat. It had been too long since she had eaten meat from the forest. Each warm bite offered up to her a mouthful of juices before finally settling down her throat. "It could be zhe annoying voice calling moi in mon dreamz. Zhat iz juzt a guess zhough."   
For a few more moments they sat in silence. He couldn't seem to peel his eyes off her tiny frame, and her bright face with those living and laughing eyes. Black slowed his eating a little bit, finding his mind preoccupied with a distant thought. And Harle found herself relishing the attention, having been in need of such a look from another for some time.   
"How, did you zpeak in mon dreamz?" She asked. Just as mysterious as Harle must have seemed to Black, so did he did seem to her.   
"My... uh, my grandfather taught me some magical arts. I used one of his spells." Black took a large bite from his rabbit to fill his mouth before he spilled out anything important. An obvious lie.   
"Why do you azk moi zhese questionz but cannot answer mine, hmm?"   
"I answered."   
"You're lying."   
"No I'm not."   
"Oui oui! You are!" She giggled slightly as he buried his face behind his meal. Perhaps she would leave him alone for a little while. "Have you ever been to El Nido?" Harle did not want to fall into silence again, and decided to try her hand at true pleasant conversation.   
"No, not really. I hear it is a wonderful spot to visit though. It has a great climate and plenty of beautiful beaches. I don't have much time for vacations anymore."   
"You are on zhe run, non?"   
"Yes. I suppose." What an accurate guess she had offered. "But I'm not running from something, but rather to something."   
"To what?" She asked innocently. But only his large silver eyes answered. It was useless to ask again about his past, but she found herself desperate to find out what was drawing him to her so suddenly and so completely, especially since they had never met before.   
For the next few hours the two found themselves engaged in long but meaningless talk, or just sitting in silence. The rabbit ran out soon and when the fire began to die down they both sprawled out on their backs and looked heavenward. There was nothing like a starry sky, free from the light pollution of civilization. And the talk continued until the meals became heavy on their stomachs, and the night heavy on their eyes. Just before Harle let herself doze off, there was the sharp crack of a branch being broken nearby. Her eyes snapped open and she was on her feet in an instant. Black was standing as well, looking about with wild but determined glances.   
"Do you smell it?" Black sniffed the air, drawing in deep slow breathes.   
"Oui. It iz a human zmell." She replied. Their backs faced together and the fire was between them both.   
"Not just any human.... Spirit is here."   
"Zhe Dragon hunter?"  
  
"One and the same." A new voice suddenly stated. Out from the shadows and into the moonlight a figure sauntered. His mannerism displayed the utmost in confidence even though he was approaching a dragon goddess and a user of the magic arts. His hair was long and white, and his face was pale and almost white. As for the rest of him, all Harle could tell was that he was rather thin. His black attire blended too well, into the night. "I have finally found you my little Dragon goddess." The hunter who called himself Spirit, had a voice full of certainty and ease. "It is a beautiful night for a hunt is it not? You can run if you wish, in fact I would prefer the challenge." With that said he drew an ornate looking dagger. The hilt seemed to be made of gold, or at least gold plated. On the bottom of the handle seven tiny jewels of various colors had been set. One of the jewels, the blue one, was glowing brightly while the others were dark.   
"A dagger? Zhat iz it?" Harle smiled a wide smile. This hunter would not be the only one draped in confidence.   
"Don't underestimate his powers." Black warned. He dug deep into his front pouch and pulled out a large deck of cards. They shimmered with their colored properties. "Here, a Prism deck. I know you know how to use that." Harle took the throwing cards and juggled a few about her body in a dangerous display of her skill. Finally she spread out three in each hand and moved her arms into a strange but characteristic fighting stance.   
"So you wont run away? How terribly unsporting of you. Very well then. We do this the easy way." Spirit spun his dagger about in his hand once.   
"The gems glow when the dragon of that color is killed by that dagger." Black warned. "It has some sort of magical properties that lets it kill Dragon beings in one successful stab."   
"You talk to much my little friend. I haven't even seen you before. I suggest staying out of this little spot of business. After all..." Spirit turned back to look at Harle with a devious grin. "...I'm doing this for the safety of all mankind. Unless you aren't a human?" Black only offered a cold silver stare in response. And so Spirit dismissed Black as a confused innocent. But he swore he would carry forth his plans even if that included destroying any "confused innocent" people along the way.   
"I will fight if I have to, human or not." Black drew two long and thin objects that looked almost like daggers. With a flick of the wrist he unfurled two battle-fans. Expertly he twirled them about in a quick display before freezing in his own fighting stance.   
"Hahaha...heh." Spirit stood, without any stance at all, and just laughed at the two clowns that were about to enter combat with him. "Come then, lets dance." The hunter drew a second dagger, that was much plainer looking but just as deadly to the human Black.   
Harle began, throwing her cards with amazing speed and succession at her attacker. But as easily as she threw the razor edged cards, Spirit deflected each with one of his daggers. With one leap he was over their heads, and he swung to kick Harle in the back of the head quite hard. The blow sent her screaming into a tree with little effort on Spirits account. She had received much harder blows, and was quick to recover from it, countering with another furry of Prism cards.   
"You will have to do better then that." Spirit warned, avoiding the cards easily. Black leapt from a nearby shadow, spinning once in the air before bringing his own two fans down onto Sprit. Spirit caught the blades with his own daggers and overcame Black's strength quickly, sending him to the ground.   
"Stay out of this. It's between me and the Dragon girl." Spirit was not amused this time. He had barely dodged Harle's third wave of cards in his effort to defend from Black. But Black would prove persistent. Like some morbid ballet Black and Spirit danced back and forth. The fans and the daggers clashed against each other with bright flashes of friction, and grunts of force. As the battle continued, the fire of the camp died down to embers, leaving the fighters to prove their skill by moonlight. Afraid for Black, Harle moved in to engage the Spirit in close quarters combat.   
Black flew in, brining his fans down hard onto Spirit's daggers. Spirit stumbled back with the blow a little and Harle charged in. She ran straight at him, running up his chest and leaping off his face to flip in the air. While she was in the air she threw three quick cards straight at Spirit at very close range. Though her pushing off his face had thrown off his balance, somehow he still managed to side-step the cards and slash across in front of him, almost hitting Harle in the leg.   
Harle was not impressed by his skill though, at least not yet. She began to dance about in a mystical manor, summoning the power of her moon far above. Shields of pure energy formed around her and Black instantly as she completed her dance of Moonshine. At once the two attacked from opposite sides, rushing in at the would-be dragon hunter. They were about to deal the death blow.   
"Enough of this playing around." Spirit cracked an element in his teeth and poured out the magic into his body. He released the pent up white energy in a flash explosion that tore Harle's shield into shards, and threw both attackers head over foot, through the air, and to a jarring halt on the ground. It was an element neither one had ever seen before.   
"Eha..." Harle's head ached, but her spirit was with her. Never had her spell been broken, especially so violently. She lay there, against a tree, with her body weeping and her skin on fire from the white flash of light.   
"Time to die Lunar Dragon." Spirit flew in as if wings were tied to his feet. Shinning, laughing, the dagger moved to strike. It would kill her. Finally. It was time to die. No! Not yet!   
"Non!" She screamed throwing her last card towards her attacker with all the emotion and strength she could muster. He brought his magical dagger to block it, as easily as he had the others, but the force of the blow tore the weapon from his hands even while he charged forward. It hurtled into the darkness of the night and where it landed could not be seen by any of them.   
"Well, I don't want to kill you until I get the Dragon's Soul Dagger back." Spirit's grin flashed stronger for a moment. "So I guess I will have to immobilize you until I can find it." And he plunged his normal dagger downward with horrible force.   
"No!...AHH!....ah..." Black threw himself in front of the blade, arms outstretch and the blade bore into his flesh. Harle starred on in horror as the shinning tip of the dagger, stained with red blood poked out the back of Black's costume. His eyes were wide with the anguish and his mouth remained opened just a crack.   
"Get off!" Spirit yanked his dagger from the black harlequin, kicking his dying body out of the way. "Hmm, nice guy. A real idiot though. Don't you agree?" He asked Harle as he prepared a similarly devastating blow to her.   
"Enough of this." A familiar voice, to Harle at least, suddenly interjected. Shinning in a blazing glory was the White Dragon god. "So this is the warrior that bested Blue Dragon. Such intensity for a human being."   
"Ah, White Dragon! I thought you would be the hardest to find. The leader always has the sense to run away, but here you are!"   
"A tiny human hunts us, the Dragon gods, and he talks to me as though I am the inferior creature. Very well." The White Dragon reared back his head, while Spirit tensed for the first attack. The mighty leader of the dragons thrust his head forward and belched forth a blinding flash of light, causing Spirit to stumble backwards holding his eyes with his hands.   
_Run Harle._ The voice came from the White Dragon, but was inside her mind. _Go and hide! I will come to you, when it is safe to._   
Oui! Merci Beacup White Dragon! And Harle picked herself up and took several blind steps forward. She stumbled over Black Harlequin who was lying there, conscious but in the same state of shock as he had been when his wound was inflicted. Blood flowed quickly from his wound, leaving his body to find a new home.   
"Bah! I am beginning to wish I never meet you." Harle hoisted up Black onto her shoulder. He was heavy (or perhaps she was not used to lifting anything but her prism cards). With his weight came slow steps and the distraction of the White Dragon would not last forever. Just before she might fall over under Black, she felt a nuzzle in her back.   
_Come. Throw him on my neck and climb on. We have only a few seconds._ The White Dragon was desperate, to allow a human on his back. Spirit could be heard screaming in anger in the background of the blinding light, and he was still clawing at his eyes hoping to cleanse them of the light. Harle threw her costumed friend where she hoped the dragon god's neck was, and then jumped onto his back. Flap. Flap. The air threw them skyward and Harle dug her fingers into the white scales. With a rush of motion the clouds parted, and the White Dragon evened himself out, above them.   
"You care that much about your human friend there?" White Dragon asked as he winged both harlequins off to safer woods.   
"Zhat wound waz zupposed to be mon wound."   
"I see. Noble creatures these humans."   
"Zuch talk from zhe leader of zhe Dragon godz!" She scolded playfully. But she always knew that the burden of genocide was always hardest on White Dragon. Even way back, before Harle and Serge met, Harle always noticed that the White Dragon cared for humanity and every living thing. At first she just dismissed it as White Dragon's own personal weakness. But now she understood a little more. Black let out a terrible sounding gurgle, dragging Harle's attention back to the wounded clown.   
"He iz loozeing blood." Harle tore her sleeves clean off of her, pushing the balled up cloth onto the wound as hard as she could.   
"Yaaah!" Black responded to the pressure with a shout of pain. Blood seemed to flow from him like an endless crimson river. Each trickle ran down the white sides of the dragon, and fell to the sky. But she would not let him die, not like this. Desperation was gnawing at her reason as she pushed harder on harder on the wound. "P...." Black finally sputtered. "P...Pooww... P-pouch." Consciousness left him, graciously, just as he spit out the word he was trying to say. Harle remembered he had a pouch around his neck and quickly opened it with nimble hands. Inside were several trinkets of odd nature, and several elements as well. Pulling the elements out, she tossed the useless ones behind her, and they fell into the sky below. Finally she found a green colored element with the word Heal inscribed on it's crystal casing. Cracking the Heal element she channeled the energies into Black... and thankfully the bleeding began to slow.   
"Black..." Harle wrapped her arms tightly, and affectionately around the black harlequin. "Black mon ami. Do not ... go." She rubbed her face into the side of his head, whispering her prayers. "Do not die... pour moi. Do not leave moi alone...." 

  
"Here." The White Dragon landed softly in the forest. It was finally morning, and the sun was crawling and pulling itself slowly above the horizon line. All the forest was orange and brown with the sunrise. "I will have to leave you both here for now. We cannot have two dragons in one place or Spirit will find us. Stay here and try to survive until one of us comes for you."   
"What of Black's woundz?"   
"You cannot go to a village. I have brought you far from any village so no one will even find you by accident. If someone spots you, and Spirit finds out you will be in a great deal of trouble. You will have to nurse your friend there, until he is able to walk on his own."   
"But zhat iz impossible!" She refused to leave the White Dragon. "Bring uz to a village! He needz a doctor!"   
"I will not."   
"... but ... he iz dying ..."   
"I'm sorry Harle but better he then you." White Dragon might despise genocide, but he held a much deeper loyalty to those in his care. And gently he shook Harle and Black off of his back. Without even a word of parting he leapt up above the trees, and flew off into the sky.   
So much for the kindness of dragon kin. 

  
Harle spent the day scouting the area, very sure never to go out of earshot of the injured Black. The moment she had taken him up into her arms on the back of White Dragon, she had swore to herself that Black would not die for her. He would not die. And if that meant she had to pour her own blood from her own wrist into his body, she would. Nothing mattered anymore to her, but the one goal of keeping Black alive. She had felt this kind of determination for most of her life. But she had felt it, in reference to her mission of fulfilling her purpose and creating the Omni-Dragon. With Blue Dragon killed, the Omni-Dragon could not be formed and that purpose was lost for real. And she... had changed since then. Her mind, shifted.   
The forest was a skeleton of trees and branches. While the trees near Euore had been evergreen trees with their prickly needle leaves, here the larger trees had lost their leaves and shed them into brown piles on the forest floor. Every step made a crunching sounds on the dried leaves as she trudged along. Her feet crushed the fallen bones of the trees into powder. At least, White Dragon had dropped them near a still pond. And the water tasted fresh enough to live off of for the time being. But it was not all of this that worried Harle on her walk. Water attracted animals, and animals attracted predators. Perhaps it was close enough to winter that the predators had gone into hibernation, or maybe she wasn't that lucky. One way or the other, Black would survive.   
Black looked so completely helpless, and ravaged with pain laying amongst the forest leaves. His body was completely limp, and had not moved since he was set down. Blood had begun to trickle again from his wounds, and from the corner of his mouth. Broken ribs? Harle took stock of the elements Black had with him. There were thirteen Heal elements, two Gravity Balls, and a single Fireball element. It was hardly enough to do any real combat with, but at least the Heals would combat death for a little while. And so Harle sat down beside the unconscious Black, and pressed her red gloved hand firmly in his, looking down into his face. Somehow, she felt completely compelled towards Black Harlequin. The sudden affection she felt, scared her enough that she released his hand and set off to find something to occupy her thoughts for the time being. 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	6. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 5

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 5 - "The Risk of Alchemy, The Adventure of Infamy" -=- 

  
Branches creaked below her, as her legs pushed down upon them. Traversing the forest canopy above, Harle's eyes roved over the landscape, searching for anything alive in the brown death of autumn. At the edge of her furthest sight, a bit of leaf moved to one side, pushed not by the wind but the arms of a small animal. And her cards flew, stopping only after pushing inches into the forehead of a squirrel. So it went, for hours. Squirrels, a rabbit if she was lucky, and back to Black to tend to him. Though she visited him often, it made little sense. Heals could not be used often, and she found herself just touching him, prodding to be sure he was warm.   
She could not look at Black for very long. His actions, his appearance, brought her to think and she was getting tired of thinking. Guilt was Harle's only real covering now, her clothes in tatters, and she wondered if a smile would ever come back to her lips ever again. The blood of so many rested on her hands. And it was only after she had done her deeds and had survived a battle she should have died in, that she had gathered up a sense of morals. But they did nothing now, but condemn her.   
Black was unconscious, his wounds staining even his dark clothes. But despite his inability to hear, Harle began to speak to him. She asked him over and over again, why he had so selflessly, and quickly leapt into the path of that knife blade. Why? Over and over and over the question came and she could dig no answer from the wordless jester.   
To occupy herself between hunting expeditions Harle had begun to weave. She had never been trained but she was quite good with her hands. This innate skill, coupled with her intellect had served her well in the past, when she had no one to rely upon. But now these skills would serve another. Long thin plants protruded from the edges of the pond. Each reached for the tops of the trees, but such goals were too lofty for the plants. And Harle decided to employ them instead, for her own purposes. The plants were strong and green, and easily tied together with one another. So after several hours of trying she managed to make several cords out of the plants. Spinning, bending, knotting, Harle spent the second day tying the cords she had made, into a net-like structure. Would it hold? Tying the net between three trees it took on the shape of an amateurish hammock. Careful to avoid the soft and tender spots of his wound Harle moved Black onto the hammock and propped a bundle of dried leaves beneath his head. With the movement Black began to cough reflexively. With every shuttering spasm he seemed to spit blood all over the place. Blood in his mouth? His ribs. They were getting… worse.   
Delicately she cracked a Heal element open above Black, and lead the healing vapors down onto his chest. The bleeding stopped again, and his body seemed to relax momentarily as the false comfort washed over him. It wouldn't be long before the pain lay siege to him again. Would he survive? Harle would not let herself think of the consequences. He was the only goal she had left. Was she that cold? Was he only a goal?   
Carefully she worked his coxcomb off his head, letting it fall to the ground below him, jingling in protest. His hair was mussed and bright blonde. Apparently he rarely took off the jester's cap by the shape of his hair. With her single index finger she traced the outlines of his face, and the bridge of his nose, the outlines of his lips, and she moved her finger down across his chin and up across his cheek. What would she do, if he died? Such guilt would be unfair, and Harle would probably not be able to carry it long in the living world. So even as he fought for his own life, Black fought for Harle's as well. 

Days passed by with horrible slowness. Harle had found a small sewing kit in Black's pouch and had set to work on the small teddy bear she had rescued from Euore. Opening the lining she removed the stinking and rotting stuffing from the animal. She replaced the fluff instead with portions of her clothes, but she didn't have enough scraps to the fill the bear. As she thought of an alternative to the stuffing her eyes wandered onto Black Harlequin. Feeling a surge of inspiration she stood up and walked over to the resting clown. Carefully she began to tear pieces of cloth away from the wound. She would put a little bit of both of them, into the toy. In it would mingle her spirit, and his. But when she tore away one rather large piece she gasped and put her free hand up to her mouth in silent astonishment. His chest! It was.... white. He had ever white skin like she had! How was that possible? Forcing herself to calm down, she sat back down and continued her repairs on the stuffed bear. It was useless to ask questions to an unconscious harlequin. And her eyes squeezed shut, as the sewing needle stuck her finger. 

--- 

  
"When will you wake up... mon ami. I am growing tired." Harle was laying across next to Black. All but two Heals were gone now. Having rested in that secluded forest for nearly two weeks, Harle wondered if he would ever recover. She had forced water, and food into his stomach but she wondered if his stomach was even churning anymore. It had been days since he even coughed, or moved just a little. His skin was turning even paler then usual, and his face was becoming less and less full of determination. Did he desire rest? Was Harle only prolonging his pain?   
Even as she rested next to Black on the hammock, Harle looked out across the now familiar landscape, her right arm wrapped tightly around Black's shoulder, and her head resting near his. His shallow breaths resonated in her ears with a pleasing rhythm. And it was then that she forced herself to look at a question that was in the heart of everything. Why, was she so hell bent on keeping Black with her? Everything she felt, was just a branch of this one question. For what seemed like hours she seemed to hold that question in constant thought, but an answer would not present itself. She could only say that she had acted strangely even from when she had survived the battle as the Time Devourer. Humanity was not a waste, not like she had first thought. She had learned to love humans, through Serge and through his friends. That was part of it. She had feelings where before she had nothing.   
Harle placed her other hand into Black's hand, in a morbid embrace with him. She could feel the heaving of his body with the labor of his lungs but still she held on. At least he was warm. Suddenly she felt something faint in her hand. It was Black. He was squeezing her hand in his. That was it! The answer to everything! Harle needed someone to take care of her, someone to love her and accept her as Lynx had done, and Serge. Black had begun to fulfill this for her, without a price, without a reason, without a catch. With this sacrifice, he had shown her that what she needed the most. She admitted it to herself, finally, that she needed someone like Black in her life. She needed love. And the tears flowed. 

-Elsewhere- 

  
Though the hum of deeply buried machinery still pulsed through the entire fort, it still seemed lifeless to Radius on his uneventful return. Monsters and machine guards were no where to be seen. With the expulsion of the Dragon Tear's great power, the monsters saw no reason to stay. And with Serge's skill and by his own hand all the robotics of this place had been all but dismantled. With such hapless appearances Radius wondered if this was indeed the right place to be. It remained in his mind a terrible thing that he had to interrupt Serge's wedding to go on this quest. But the importance to Serge, and even to Leena could not be fully expressed. And though Leena had some angry words with Radius, Serge accepted Radius's decisions ultimately, and postponed the wedding until he returned.   
After a long walk through the familiar innards of Fort Dragonia, Radius finally came to the highest point on the highest floor. Towering still above he could see an opening in the ceiling and just before him he could see a glowing pad on the ground. Daintily he stepped upon the pad, activating it. It glowed fiercely, and began to channel power over the outside of the old man's body in waves and rings. Instantly he felt himself catapulted skyward. With technologically perfected precision he flew out of the small opening in the top of the fortress, and up through the floor. And finally he came to a soft landing just a few paces beyond a set of great familiar doors.   
These doors. So full of memories. But such memories were like a breeze felt only by him. To be alone, at this time, to be alone at the memorial of the transformation, seemed almost blasphemous. Such memories, were not built by Radius' own hands alone.   
The chamber was just as Radius had remembered it. The entire room seemed cracked, as if even the walls and floor had gave up their spirits to fuel some great event. Dust covered everything. Dust and the settled debris of a small explosion. In the center of the room was Radius' prize. An alter-like structure rose from the floor's center with tiny broken shards of a long deceased gemstone. The power had faded to nothing in the broken Dragon Tear. And the largest portion of the tear had been shaped into the Tear of Love, by Radius' own steady hand. To the old man's relief, there was still enough of the Dragon Tear on the pedestal to accomplish what it needed to accomplish. Pushing his finger through the dust, he moved all the leftover cracklings of the gem into a waiting drawstring bag. Such a rape, of the old place. But he had no choice. And he would never return here if he could help it. 

  
The night was a perfect shield and covering. Days had past since the date set for Serge and Leena's wedding and Radius knew that he had no friends in the village that night. He was the only one allowed to conduct the ceremonies and he had left for Fort Dragonia just hours before he was supposed to wed the two. But this quest was important far above and beyond the wedding. Despite it's value, it could be rescheduled if Radius could just complete this perfect wedding gift. And so the village elder crept through the bushes with silence and patience until his home was just a few feet from him.   
"You have been gone a long time." A soft and familiar voice suddenly said from a shadow. The blue haired Serge stepped out from beyond the darkened wall of the house to meet his elder.   
"Greetings Serge. I did not expect anyone to be awake this late at night."   
"Elder, you have been gone a long time, and you have caused many problems for us." Serge stated with his usual even tone. But he did not seem angry. "What is so important to have taken you away from us these four days?"   
"Boy, there are some things in this world you would never believe." Radius moved towards the front door of his home. "Dragon creatures, magical powers, and fights for the fate of humanity are not as rare as one might expect them to be." And with that the elder stepped into the doorway and out of sight. "Are you coming in boy?"   
"Yes, yes of course." Serge followed after.   
"Serge you know that I am the direct descendent of many a great man and woman. Through my life I have amassed many books and ideas and items of question." Radius finally rested his old bones on a chair, pulling it up to his own wooden table. "But there is something hear that even I cannot ignore." And with that Radius emptied all the fragments of the Dragon Tear onto the table. Each portion glittered, though their powers were spent.   
"Gemstones? Little broken gemstones?" Serge asked, picking up a fragment and examining it as closely as he could. "It seems rather trivial to abandoned Arni for these specks."   
"You were hoping for a better reason." Radius pulled himself to his feet again. "You probably have been the only one defending my actions in the whole village." Radius chuckled to himself, picturing the shades of red and purple that Leena must have achieved and the frantic Serge trying to calm her. "You must trust me boy. Perhaps you don't realize it now, but these fragments are very important to our lives, yours and mine, and even Leena."   
"I trust you Radius. I always have." Serge replied easily. It was of second nature to believe the words of his elder. "You have been a father to everyone in the village."   
"Then..." Radius turned to Serge with a serious look on his face. "I could use your help." 

  
"Sure Serge, take whatever you need. I'm not sure what a boy of your age could possibly do with a jewelry smelting kit but your welcome to it." The village tinker, Jonathan, always had piles of junk heaped high around him. But this one time, something he had purchased may actually have found some use.   
"Thank you very much Jon." Serge took what he needed and headed out into the sunshine of the afternoon.   
"Serge! Hey Serge!" Leena ran up to Serge in a huff. She looked beautiful, even in her normal clothes. Her red hair always seemed to fall just right about her head. As usual, her prized possession, her Komodo Scale Necklace was tied tightly around her neck. "Have you seen Radius today?"   
"No. I'm sorry." Serge responded quickly, and with a rather over accentuated note of sadness.   
"I'm beginning to wonder if this whole thing will ever happen." Leena glanced downwards in defeat.   
"Come on, lets go for a walk." Serge had to head out of the village anyway with his jewelry equipment and so he hoped he could walk along the worn path with Leena close to his side.   
"Okay." She shrugged half-heartedly. The path was bright and the sun shown with it's perfection as usual. On El Nido it seemed the bitter cold and the harsh heat of the world would never touch the shores. Fairy breezes always tiptoed by and cooled any warming day. And when the cold pushed just below the point of comfort the sun would blaze away the chilly winds and bring warmth and light again. It was an eternal dance that Serge had always looked upon and admired.   
"What is it, that is on your mind Leena?" Serge got straight to the point. They had gone on many walks like this around Arni. In fact it was on one of these very same kinds of walks that had led Serge to stumble across the broken Harle weeks ago.   
"Do you think this is an omen or something?" Leena asked, grabbing her left elbow with her right hand. "I mean, Radius never leaves for so long, and he knows how important our marriage is."   
"Do you not want to get married anymore?"   
"No!" Leena gasped to even hear such a sentence. "Of course not! I'm just..."   
"Do you love me then?"   
"What?"   
"Do you?" Serge was being persistent and logical in an easy going way that had always reassured Leena.   
"I love you Serge."   
"I love you Leena." Serge smiled as the words rolled easily from his lips. "One week or one year, will not change this. Radius knows how important this is to us. We must trust that there is a very important reason he has left us. And our feelings will sustain us until then." Her face, brightened. And her arms fell limp to her sides. Even her chest seemed to release an extra bit of sustaining air. Forever, she had wanted to be with Serge in this way. And it had only been recently that Serge seemed to show her any real affection back.   
"I think I'll head back to the village now." She had so many questions. Were they too young? Was this whole thing a mistake? Would they, could they possibly survive a lifetime together? But these all were questions she already knew the answers to. And so she left Serge alone.   
"Phew! I thought she was never going to leave!" Radius poked his head out from a nearby cave. "Did you get what I needed, Serge?"   
"Your book." Serge handed an ancient book over to the old man. "Your catalyst, and a jewelry kit."   
"Excellent. It wont be long now! All I have to do is boil down the fragments into their purest forms and use this catalyst to bond the fragments to the gold of the jewelry. Soon it will be complete." And Radius went back into the cave again.   
"Do you need anything else Radius?" Serge called into the cave. His voice echoed a moment.   
"No boy! You have been a great help! But the rest is up to me now!" Radius had set up a tiny laboratory right in the cave. It was better then working in his home where he was subject to gossip an the random visits of the enraged Leena. As it is he would have trouble explaining to the village citizens why he had run out. But he had planned on thinking of an excuse later. After all, he was so close.   
Scribbling long postulates upon unfurled scrolls relaxed Radius' throbbing mind. Theoretically, since the Chrono Cross was made from a portion of the Dragon Tear, then the two must have similar properties. What Radius had to do was isolate the portion of the Dragon's Tear that held a wavelength enough to affect human thought. If combined with just the right amount of catalyst it could possibly, and permanently lift the mind blocking affects of the Chrono Cross. In simple terms, Radius could make jewelry with the ability to restore the minds of those that Chrono Cross had wiped clean. His hand continued, writing furiously with his thought. Such formulas rolled easily from his fingers, as if he had sputtered them out all his life. Serge and Leena would be the two test subject, as he would be mixing in some of his fragments into their jewelry. If it worked, both of their memories should return completely, or it could explode, or melt, or turn them both into bowls of wheat cereal for all he guessed. But the proof would come with patience. 

  
"So do you think you are going to actually get married today?" One of the grumpier of the woman asked as she tugged violently on Leena's wedding gown.   
"Of course I am! Radius is back and if he leaves again so help me I'm going to tear his nose off his face." Leena threatened with empty words. Deep down she was glad to see that nothing bad had happened to the old man. But still, his excuse of "an old friend suddenly became ill in a far away and unnamed town, blah-de-blah" was rather far fetched at best. He had promised though, that not even an invading Porre army would rip him from the wedding this time. It had been almost two weeks since he had left to see his "sick friend."   
"The guests are starting to pile up, and the musicians are getting restless." Another village woman came into the hut with her report. "Lets get a move on, ladies."   
"Yeah that's easy for you to say. I'm having trouble tacking this gown onto the child's thin frame!" Another replied.   
"Yeah! Look at you! You're as skinny as a rail! Do you eat child?"   
"Of course I eat! Lets forget the health talks! We have a ceremony to do here!" Leena was becoming impatient.   
"Yeah, that's her empty stomach talking."   
"I would be cranky too if I never ate anything."   
"I EAT! What the heck is the MATTER with you people!?"   
"Aww, isn't that cute. She's nervous and throwing a little fit." One of the woman chuckled a little at Leona's yelling.   
"Ya look beautiful." Kid whispered to Leena from her spot outside. She couldn't bring herself to go in and say goodbye to her. But she knew that she could not stay for the wedding any longer. "Take good care of me' mate Serge." Kid requested to the unhearing Leena. "Good...bye..." And Kid jumped down out of the window and took off towards a less conspicuous exit out of town. She planned on leaving Arni forever. Such a simple plan. Only one purpose was left in her head. She had to find and destroy the one person responsible for her misery, wherever the freak lay her head. 

  
An altar had been built by the men of the village, right in the village's center. Painted a bright white and decorated with a rainbow of flowers and ribbons it danced down to the ground looking far newer then any structure round about. Even then a cloth covering was being pulled down off of it with careful carpenter's hands. The cloth had been erected the very afternoon of the first wedding date, when the ceremonies had been suspended. But Radius was back now, dressed in his best robes and stranding right in the heart of the altar. A red carpet (stored away for just such an occasion) had been unrolled from the foot of the altar to the rear of the audience, splitting the audience in half and making an "aisle" for the wedding party to come through when the time was right.   
Finally Radius gave the signal for the crowd to silence itself. But the crowd was hard pressed to become quiet. Mumbles, snitch's of words and sentences, gossip, ran rampant through the crowd as many asked where Radius had been for all that time. Theories were shared back and forth as often as new ones were thought up. None of them were right of course. But with such a small village it become quite a pastime to talk about the doings of one another.   
"Quiet down please." Radius requested again, this time receiving more attention with his voice. With a commanding gesture Radius summoned the first of the party to come down the aisle.   
First were two flute playing musicians that pranced down the center of the aisle. Hired from Termina, they had charged double their asking price to appear for the "second attempt" as it now came to be called. But the village gladly paid them and the musicians seemed happy to be in their element. Together they made a fabulous team, the two male musicians. Their music was perfect and crisp, holding with it the aroma of all the cultures of El Nido.   
Portion by portion and bit by precious bit the wedding party stepped up the aisle and assembled themselves on either side of the altar. All the while the flute players played their flutes and kept the rhythm and the mood. Eventually all the wedding party had been assembled up in the front of the altar. Serge stood before Radius, lonely for Leena and yearning to begin. He had never felt so nervous, at least he never remembered feeling so nervous in his whole life.   
The flute players began playing a whimsical and beautiful flute version of "Here Comes the Bride." The gown, had fallen into place and clung hungrily to Leena's body. That was the miracle of the wedding. Sprawling out from her center, the gown grew fingers of white and wings of lace. Walking, moving, pushing forward to her final destiny she was perfection in white. Her hand roamed outward a moment as she neared her Serge. But he caught it without hesitation, and they clasped their fingers intertwining them.   
"We are gathered her today to bond together in beautiful marriage this young and willing couple, Serge and Leena. Here their lives will be forever forged into one life. And their commitment shall be a testament to their determination and love. For this occasion they have written their own vows. Serge?"   
"Leena, you have always been part of my life. I cannot think of myself without you. I swear upon my own soul that I will always be there for you. I will protect you, and care for you, and love you for all of my life. Unless death parts our paths this promise will never die. I cannot imagine my past without you, and I cannot imagine my future without you." Serge held out his hand and Radius laid a small woman's ring in it. The golden band smiled in the sunlight, finally gaining the respect it earned. Punctuating the ring was a single stone of bright magenta color. It was a refined portion of the Dragon's Tear, radiating powers unknown.   
"Oh Serge..." Leena let her mind tumble, overcome by the words and she shed a single petite tear. "Serge I promise to love you for all eternity, beyond life and beyond death. I remember you when I was a child. We used to play our children's games and we used to laugh and run together. Those moments are cherished in my mind for all time. I will never forget them. But I know that with you by my side I will never be alone, and I will never be without love. May our house be blessed with love for all time." And Radius presented her with the male ring of the set. It pushed weighted in her hand, but the weight was tiny and beautiful. Instead of a single gem in its center, the refined Dragon Tear had been spread into intricate design work surrounding the ring.   
"Go ahead, put the rings on each others fingers." Radius licked his lips subconsciously. It was almost time. Such a gift had never been given, for Radius hoped to give the gift of memories. First Serge slid on Leena's ring, pushing it up delicately as far as her skin would comfortably allow. And then Leena placed Serge's ring on his finger with the same dainty caution, as not to hurt him. Very faintly the two rings emanated with a purple glow.   
"Serge?" Leena asked, a sudden look of confusion hitting her face. "Serge!"   
"Be calm Leena." Serge squeezed her hands with reassurance.   
"What happened?"   
"I don't know." Serge looked at the beaming Radius. "We will find out soon enough."   
"Are you two alright? Shall I continue?" Radius asked.   
"Yes." Leena said, her voice weak and distant. Serge only nodded.   
"By the power bestowed upon me by the people of Arni Village, I pronounce you both man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Radius let out his biggest smile yet. It had been done to his satisfaction. Despite the effects of the rings, their love remained and Serge and Leena pressed their lips together in a passionate embrace. Shouts flew forth in celebration. The cheers echoed far and wide across the forests and the mountains. What had taken so long to occur, finally happened. And the life of Arni was that much extended. 

  
"...and so I forged the rings with fragments of the Dragon's Tear. The isolated powers of the magenta colored fragments has freed your minds from the Chrono Cross's hold over you." Radius had taken the two away from the crowds the moment the ceremony had ended. All the peoples of Arni were so engrossed in the reception that few even seemed to notice that the bride and groom had disappeared. Whoever did notice, just shrugged and reasoned it to be that the young couple just couldn't wait to start their honey moon. They would give a sigh in tribute to their lost youth and continue into the festivities.   
"So, since we defeated the Time Devourer, our minds have been sealed away?". Somehow, Leena hopped to gain perspective of the day's events by mindlessly asking the same question over and over again.   
"So it seems." Radius responded with a solemn tone.   
"But then how do these rings give us our memories back? I don't understand any of this!"   
"You realize..." Serge rose a hand to silence Leena for just a moment. "...the implications of this." With fierce intensity Serge starred at his wedding band, and his memories. "Harle, didn't seem to have lost her memory at all, the way we saw her in the village just a few weeks ago. And Kid obviously didn't either, since she recognized, and moved to combat Harle."   
"So what does that mean?" Leena asked as insistently as she had asked all her other questions.   
"You have stumbled across the same thoughts I have." Radius replied. "If Harle remembers, and she survived the battle with you, then it is safe to assume that the other Dragons did as well."   
"And this time, they are mobile, and more powerful." Serge added. "What should we do then Radius?"   
"I'm sorry boy. This is just about the time you take charge of this little group. I was hardly in the position to lead us the first time we faced these dragons, and I am even less in the position now." Radius admitted. "We can try and find Harle, or Kid, and ask them how they retained their memories. We can hunt around to see if any of the other dragon gods survived."   
"How many of these pieces of jewelry do you have?" Serge asked, his mind distant and his brilliant blue eyes closed just slightly in distant thought.   
"Just your two wedding bands. I have enough materials to make several more pieces but it will take me a full two or three days to use up all the materials I have."   
"What about our rings? Are the effects only temporary?" Serge asked with determination.   
"You have to leave them on for a few months before your memories permanently return. If you take them off before then I cannot tell what will happen." This sort of alchemy remained a rather risky science. The fact that Serge and Leena had received their entire memories back in just a short while was a great deal more then Radius himself had suspected. And neither one had died. That had to be a good sign.   
"Get to work right away on the rest of the jewelry pieces. Let us know when you are finished with them." Serge stood to his feet, cracking his back with the effort.   
"I will get to work on them right away." Radius agreed and he began to make preparations to move his cave laboratory into one of the rooms of his home. "Shouldn't be more then three days."   
"What are we going to do in the meantime?" Leena casually stood to her feet. But she had barley been standing a second before Serge scooped her up off the ground and carried her in his arms, out into the sunshine.   
"Do you have to ask?" He smiled mischievously as the two newlyweds headed off to a secluded spot somewhere far from Radius, and far from the festivities in the village. 

  
-Three Days Passed- 

  
"Are we ready to go then?" Radius tested the weight of his belt. The jewelry had been safely tucked away in a pouch tied to his waist and he wanted to be sure that he could always feel the weight of the items, lest someone try to steal them.   
"It's not fair. We had such a short honey moon." Leena complained. But her words were soft for she knew her duties.   
"I promise we will have a real honey moon when we come back to Arni again." Serge swore his oath in the utmost seriousness. After all, his desires were also curbed.   
"I hope so." Leena replied.   
"How is everyone's supply of elements?" Serge asked, turning his attention to the combat capacity of his group.   
"I have plenty enough to keep us healthy and safe." Radius replied. "I've still got all my old grid elements from the last time around."   
"Me too." Leena added.   
"Very good." Serge looked out from the edge of Arni and in the distance towards the faint echoes of Fossil Valley. "Lets go then."   
"But Serge my boy! Where are we going anyway?" Radius asked with a smile on his face.   
"Where?" Serge sucked in a breath of fresh valley air. "To find our old friends again." 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	7. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 6

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 6 - "The Hands of the Forest" -=- 

  
She was like a wall, standing defensively between the evil of the forests and the tenderness of the one living being that cared, even just a little, for her. Harle would not let these demons of the forest past her, and on to the prize they sought. For she now was starring down four large cats of the forest. The beasts were huge and she had no weapons but the pitiful three combat elements that Black had left her in his pouch. The four cats stood perfectly still, their backs arched and their eyes blazing with a predator's vigor not at all unusual for the wild forest. Harle stood opposite, just feet from the comatose Black, her two Gravity Balls and single Fireball balancing between her fingers.   
One of the cats made the first move to strike, charging forward straight for the little Jesteress. She snapped the Fireball element and threw the flaming ball of fire energy towards the cat. Moving to the side, the cat lived as the ball past quickly and harmlessly. Apparently the hearty predator had seen such magic before.   
Harle leapt skyward just out of the way of the forest cat's attack and she kicked downwards, planting the cat's head into the forest turf. He lifted his injured skull again, and shook his head off, releasing the pain. Surrounded, Harle lashed out with fingers, moving to strike but her motions were ignored. Each cat, sensing the other, and knowing their prey, circled about slowly, closing their grip around her throat.   
Feeling the weight of one of the Gravity Blows between the fingers of her right hand she looked about from one cat to the other. They were not impressed with her speed and power, nor were they impressed with her magic or appearance. What could she do to shake them? Just before they all leapt upon her at once she smiled a broad beaming smile, devious and seemingly out of place. With blinding speed she cracked the first Gravity Blow element and sent the ball of black energies hurtling towards one cat. It leapt out of the way as she had guessed but this time she put her excessive speed and agility to work. Instantly she brought herself around to the front of the Gravity Ball, smashing it with her fists like a beach ball. The energies changed directions and flew directly back into the same cat's path. Too slow to dodge the returning ball the cat was sucked in by the wild gravity surges of the weapon and flew skyward. Harle repeated the motion, leaping with perfect grace and poise in front of the Gravity Blow again. She redirected it a second time, sending it smashing into the second animal. Angry, and confused, the remaining cats began to predict her motions, but they were dazzled and hard-pressed to keep up with the jesteress' motion. In a deadly game, Harle continued moving her element about between the cats. Understanding her methods, each dodged her, but they could do little else. And for several moments, the prey and the predator confused their roles.   
Finally Harle smashed the ball parallel to the ground towards the two cats. One jumped above it, and the other below. It was a reaction that Harle had expected and she leapt in front of the ball again. Instead of redirecting it, she cracked the final Gravity Blow element between her fingers. With a shout of effort she directed all of the furry of the element straight into the other Gravity Blow. The two ricocheted off one another. One flew straight downwards, tearing the cat to pieces with a bloody burst. The other blasted skywards, sending the cat above sailing into the sunset.   
Harle threw the broken pieces of the elements into the grass and returned to look at Black. She wished distantly that he could see how well she had defended him. And maybe he would feel that his debt had been repaid. After recovering herself from the battle's initial shock Harle sat down on the grass besides Blacks resting form. Her back leaned up against the tree as her heaving chest gathered up air with great gulps. When she finally caught her breath she pulled out the small teddy bear she had so tenderly looked after all this time. Though she had only one color thread to work with she didn't seem to mind, and continued to re-stitch the red and blue tails of the teddy bear's jester cap.   
Her fingers moved nimbly, up and down, up and down, twisting side to side as if she had sewn such toys together all her life. But her speed and ease of hand were forced. To move as thus, was numbing. To think without pause, forced her demons to wander abroad. There was no room for remorse, and no room for joy. Only sewing remained. Moving, floating, Harle's gaze fixed upon a single point in front of her face. And as the point wafted down she followed it. White and shimmering with purity, a single snowflake landed upon the bear, melting before it lasted a moment. 

  
Digging from the deepest of the skies, the forest became a white horror. Snow flake pilgrims flocked from the clouds, riding proudly upon the wind. Fleeing the army of flakes, the sun fell away and left the night to defend the world against the cold. But instead, the moons welcomed the cold, and forced more of it upon the forests. Harle held on, desperate for survival. Wood was soaked to mush, and hopes for a fire had evaporated like Harle's happiness. Laying on the hammock, grasping Black, she screamed the night through. Curses were first, damning the fates and the clouds for deeming fit to open the gates of Hell frozen, above her head. When the words failed finally, and her body was numb and weak, she could only continue her shouting in incoherent blasts of rage. She rubbed her body, up and down and up and down across the harlequin beside her. But his own warmth had all but dwindled to death. Wrapping her arms about her comrade, and crushing her face into his neck, she let go of her consciousness and plunged into a dreamless barrier of sleep. A sleep from which, she hoped she would never awaken. 

  
Wheezing, rasping, breathes were the sounds that Harle awoke to. She was half buried in the snow, the hammock cords had broken hours ago and she found herself below it in a heap. Black lay across the top of her, like a heavy blanket. His heat had kept her warm that night, while the snow battered his back and his head. But he was not even awake to realize that sacrifice he had made. And Harle wondered if it would have made a difference. When would this man stop doing these things to her? She was immortal, and nothing but battle could kill her. When would he go and lavish these things, these beautiful actions, on someone else? There had do be towns full of women that deserved this far more then she did. Human women, with values, and pure pasts. Ah, but she was being silly again, letting herself go. He didn't mean to have fallen onto such a protective stance on top of her. But his face, was bent into a new feature of stark determination. And she wondered...   
Whatever had happened that night while she had blacked out, didn't matter to her anymore. What mattered even less was the commands of the White Dragon. Sputtering with whispered breathes, Black was rasping now, and he was spitting up blood consistently. The Heal elements were long gone, and the injuries had only just begun to run their course. To survive, the two had to go to a village, and soon.   
Only her immortal dragons spirit kept her, and her body alive. Blue, her legs should have shriveled and fallen off her torso at the start of the storm. But they clung to her body, unwilling to abandoned her. Pushing through the snow, each step painful and numb, Harle began to gather what she needed to finish her most important craft of all. She set to work straight away, tying pieces of wood together with the twine plants that grew around the newly nearly frozen pond. How had winter come so quickly? The question crossed her chattering teeth very often, but the forest moved in ways she was ill-able to predict.   
After a long number of hours, Harle had built a sled (sled being the best possible word to describe the simple wooden frame), with the best of her abilities. She dug out Black Harlequin from the snow drift that had formed around him, and tied his limp body to the wooden frame of the bed. He was shivering thoroughly, convulsing as his spirit yanked on his body, begging to be freed in death. Without a great deal of thought she tore whatever was left of her clothes from her, and wrapped strips of clothing around Black wherever his own clothes had torn through. Only a scrap of white under garment was left on her, to cover what needed to be covered. Finally she took off her precious jester's hat, and tied it around Blacks face. With that she gritted her teeth and grabbed the rope of the sled. Her feet pushed harshly into the snow and she began to pull the heavy sled forward in any random direction. Winds, tugged on her hair releasing it about her head. As each strand waved cascaded down, her own gaze fell to the snow at her feet. She could not lift her head. But if she walked far enough, fast enough, eventually she would reach a village. As she began to plod along she cursed silently her stubborn Dragon spirit. If she had just died when she was supposed to, she would not have to endure this frozen Hell, neither her nor Black. But she seemed doomed to live for an eternity and not even death could avert her misery. For whenever someone wished for immortality, they first should wish for immunity to pain, and to cold. 

  
An endless day. Could such a thing exist? One without night, or rest? The cold decreed that such was so. And Harle pushed through the eternal daytime. All she could do was pull through the days, and huddle close to Black for the howling nights. As the snow fell in the evening time she would sit beside Black, holding him close to melt her skin back into health, she would whisper in his ear.   
"Don't die tonight. Live through zhe night mon ami. Do not die pour moi." She was not worth it. Why was she doing this to herself? She was feeling guilty and it was all because of this stupid clown that she was dragging about like a wounded dog. Why wouldn't he leave her alone? Why couldn't she bring herself to leave him to death? And the need came again. She would do anything to fulfill the need. And he was the only way she could fill it, too afraid to take her own life. If by some miracle he lived, she would never admit any of this to him. To do so, would show weakness. But for now she let the need ache in her heart, on her lips, and then to rest on Black's unhearing ears. 

  
"DON'T DIE!" Harle shouted as she struggled to pull the sled up a steep snow bank. Her legs were almost completely covered and the snow weighed heavy on her, reaching as tall as her waist. She was immortal. She could not die of anything but physical harm like the slice of a blade, or the burn of fire. But what good did this do her now? Never had she felt so much pain, so much cold and pain. "DON'T DIE!" She commanded. She would not have him die for her! Not ever! This was it. Her legs, would not move. Her blood had frozen and her muscles turned to ice. Just then, something touched her nose. It was the smell... of cooking food! A village was nearby! Or at least someone else, someone with a fire! With a new wind she plunged the shabby wooden sled forward. Trees darted by, miles seemed to ooze beneath her feet. But food was near, food and fire. Fire and food. Her breath beating rhythmically she could not think of anything, save the fire and the food.   
A huge green form suddenly smashed down into the ground in front of her. It reared back its head and let out a raspy but ravaging roar.   
"It smells good, doesn't it?" The Green Dragon asked with a twisting smile. "It has been a long time since you have eaten food hasn't it my dear?"   
"Get out of zhe way." Harle growled at the Green Dragon. Of all the six, she hated this form the most. He was a disgrace even to their proud dragon race. He killed for pleasure, not meat. And he was not below killing innocent and defenseless animals as well as people. This one was especially thirsty for the blood of parents, content to watch the children die of starvation and lack of care. "Let moi pass.."   
"I don't think so." Green Dragon replied.   
"Why am I not zuprized hmm?" Harle let out a deep and troubled sigh. "Should I even azk why you will not let moi through to zhe village?"   
"White Dragon will not allow it. He told me to come and to retrieve you, for some reason or another. I don't know why myself. Since Blue Dragon is dead, there is no reason we need you anymore." His breath was rancid as usual, and he seemed to enjoy the stomach turning affect he had on others.   
"I will not go."   
"Ha! I'm afraid you don't have a choice my dear. Either I carry you there on my back, or I carry you there in my stomach. Either way..."   
"Mon ami, iz dying. You will take him with uz az well." Harle stated. Her words were difficult to pronounce as the cold snow ate away at her mind and her blood. And she felt no shame in her underclothes before the might Dragon god, for he was shameful in his own right.   
"I will never permit a human onto my back." Green Dragon replied.   
"Zhen we have nothing to zpeak about, non?" And Harle began to pull the sled around the Green Dragon. But he quickly side stepped to block her path.   
"You don't seem to understand." Green chuckled. "Perhaps you are forgetting that you're merely a slave to us."   
"Ha! Zome mazter you are, hmm? You cannot even defeat zhe little human in our ultimate form, non?" Harle's face was glowing with her usual fire of rebellion and she waited for the Green Dragon's heated response.   
"Hmm." The Green Dragon's throat rumbled slowly in a growling tone. "Big mistake." With a quick movement he whipped his tail about and smashed it into Harle. She flew silently, impacting a tree and falling to the ground in a heap. All over her, it was aching and hurting, and the snow felt so... cold. Forcing her mind to ignore her body she stood onto her feet again. Stumbling, falling to her knees, Harle struggled to focus her failing eyes.   
"I'm n-not zo eazily k-killed." She reminded the Dragon. Her speech was slipping away, but she would not back down.   
"Although I would love to see you two fight for awhile longer, I'm becoming bored." A horribly familiar voice suddenly commented. The slender form of a man leapt from a tall tree branch and landed with great silence and skill just before the Green Dragon. "It is really quite intriguing to watch the great Dragons fight amongst themselves." It was Spirit. He had found her, after all of this.   
"Good." Green Dragon stated with anger in his voice. "Meat. And I was just getting hungry." With all the speed the blubber coated Dragon could muster he thrust his head forward to snap his jaws around the human. But Spirit easily dodged and waited for the Green Dragon to recover from the sluggish blow.   
"Perhaps you don't know who I am yet." Spirit stated, with a smile burned upon his face. "She knows." He pointed with a thumb in the general direction of Harle. She was on her hands and knees, her face cast to the ground and tears sliding down her nose into the snow. "Yes, she and I are quite familiar. But I will deal with her later. You first, my rather annoying green friend."   
"Your fast. But lets see you dodge this!" The Green Dragon drew in a breath, and then released a stench so horrible from his mouth that the trees and the plants withered and died. It was a toxic poison vapor, that was meant to paralyze meals so the Green Dragon had an easier time grasping hold of them.   
"How delightful." Spirit said in distaste. "You use your own body odors to succumb your victims." Without concern he opened up an Antidote element, splashed the contents across his own face, and drew his dagger the Dragon Soul. "You will have to do better then that."   
"Gah! You ARE quite annoying aren't you!" The Green Dragon prepared to unleash the devastating Carnivore attack, but just before he could spit that tiny bit of life-force, Spirit ran straight up the Dragon's belly, spun around in a cyclonic manor once and hacked off both of the Dragon's arms.   
"You took too long." Spirit stated as the Dragon roared in pain, swinging about his two bloodied stumps as if trying to gather up his lost appendages. "Time to finish you off." And Spirit plunged the Dragon Soul blade deep into the Dragon god's chest. For a moment the Dragon shown with a bright glorious light, and then, all at once his body shriveled up and reverted to a fine powder. The powder swirled about the tip of the Dragon Soul and finally, became absorbed by the blade of the dagger itself.   
"That was entertaining, wasn't it my dear..." Spirit's words trailed off as he turned to where Harle had once been. As if a wind had swept her away, she had disappeared. Spinning about quickly Spirit peered towards the wooden sled that the injured Black had been riding upon. He too, was gone. "You can run Harle! BUT I WILL FIND YOU!" 

  
A strong arm was wrapped around her waist, and a strong hand lay clapped over her mouth tightly. The scent of the man grasping her did not feel familiar. But by his speed, and skill, she hoped he was not another enemy. For this figure had easily leapt to the ground from the tree, scooped up Harle in his arms, and then retreated with complete silence into the forest. And so Harle stood there with the stranger wrapped about her in the odd embrace. His body was completely stiff and still. All of his trained senses tuned about the forest, as he read the winds and the sounds of the animals.   
"Oh Harle?... Harle!... where are you?" Spirit casually stepped about the forest. He suspected that Harle had ran off on her own strength, and would not be hard to find. The lack of tracks in the snow did leave Spirit a bit worried, but he pursued at a trifling speed and with a big grin on his face. "Harle? Are you hiding somewhere? Come out and I will make it quick for you. I may even spare your little human companion." 

  
Harle struggled to see the face of him holding her so tight. He would not let her move, holding her in a tight constriction. But her wandering red eyes did not rest until finally she could see him. Drawn across his face were two lines of red paint, one over each cheek. Stained a tan color, the creature must have grown up under the sun, moving beneath it as it hardened his body. Drawn back about his face was his brown hair, tied in the back into a single tail. Determined, and naturally rugged, his face held thoughtful eyes and small silent lips. Down below his chest was bare and rippled with muscles found only when living off the land. He wore only pants and a necklace tied of purple twine. The pants were sewn of a brown material Harle had never seen before, and it must have been strong to keep up with the silent forest walker. Standing in the pure white snow, his feet were bare but unfeeling. It was apparent this warrior was born and raised in the forests she hated so.   
"Harle? Is that you?" She held her breath as Spirit turned and starred directly where she stood. Harle could see the teeth of his grin as he starred. But with little thought he continued on. Had he somehow missed her? She looked back at the warrior who had saved her, hoping he had an answer. But his hand rested still, tight on her face.   
Several more minutes passed as Spirit wandered about aimlessly. As he searched he began to wander further and further away from Harle and her warrior. Soon his callings were nothing but a distant echo. Finally, the warrior looked down at Harle. He released her torso to make a "quiet" symbol across his face. She nodded slowly in his grip, and he released her completely. After a few more agonizing minutes of waiting, the warrior flashed her a "trust me" smile and scooped her up in his arms again. With a giant leap he landed on a tree limb high above. With precarious and precise agility he leapt from branch to branch, pausing hardly enough to steady his own stance. For several long minutes he traveled through the tops of the trees. The wind seemed to flow around his body, his silence was so complete.   
The few minutes in the warriors grip turned into a half of an hour until finally he leapt to the ground again. Softly he set her down beside him, and starred out into a sparkling field that lay before them. It was a very large patch of snow and wild flowers, without a single tree. The forest limits could be seen all around it's perimeter, but the field itself was bare of any towering plant life. Suddenly the warrior made a strange gesture, and let out a sputter of unintelligible words. Like a covering being moved aside, the sky and scene seemed to split and fold away. Behind the folding field and sky, was a village full of people and full of life. Quickly the warrior escorted her inside, and the magical covering of the city closed again, leaving behind only a terribly empty field.   
Her warrior friend had thrust Harle quickly through the village and to a structure deep in the village's heart. There she was confined by the warrior, who stood between her and the only exit. The floor was dirt, and the walls were made of wooden logs driven into the ground so they ran parallel, up and down. It seemed, of what little she could see of the village that most of the architecture was simple, and made of the same wood frames. There were several two (and even three) story structures, but these kinds of huts seemed to be the most common. Tools of metal and wood and clay littered the particular room Harle sat in. Even the chair she rested upon seemed to have been hewn of a single wooden trunk. Though the village did not appear unfriendly towards her, it also did seem troubled by her entry. But such a reception was common, whether the village knew it or not, for her wherever she went. Harle was amazed by the magic covering the village. For on the outside it was invisible, but on the inside it was quite a lively little village. Perhaps this illusion was the reason why she was not accepted too readily in the village. Maybe they were not used to guests.   
"My name is Juku." The warrior finally spoke. "Do you speak?" He had been starring at her, his arms folded across his chest as he sat across from her for some time. It seemed that he was completely puzzled by her in many ways.   
"Oui. I do zpeak." Harle nodded slightly, and nervously. "Why did you bring moi all zhe way back here? To keep moi captive?"   
"I was leading a sentry patrol. We came across you and your wounded friend, and we saved you from that beast and the beast hunter. You are not a captive." His voice was deep and smooth, and with every vibration of his lips she felt just a little more reassured. Such a creature of nature would do her no harm, as long as she presumed the roll of a quiet and unthreatening woman.   
"Zhen why are you ztanding guard over moi?"   
"You cannot go into the village yet, not until the village elder decides whether or not my actions were...wise." Juku sighed a deep and troubled sigh. "We do not accept guests often as I am sure you understand. But saving those in trouble, is a very highly praised action in this village."   
"Mon ami, zhe black clown avec moi? Where iz he?"   
"He was badly injured as I am sure you know. By now I would imagine he is in the care of the village shaman. She is an excellent doctor, and she should be able to help him at least a little." Harle did not respond to that, for it needed no response. She just sat upon her uncomfortable wooden chair and felt the warmth of the fire burning in a fire pit nearby. It seemed to finally thaw out her permanently frozen body, and her blood could run through her free again. And all at once a tremendous wave of relief overcame her to the point where her joints completely relaxed, and her body slumped into the chair sliding down.   
"You must be tired my friend." Juku noticed her body began to relax and the sluggishness of her movements and speech. "You are welcomed to lay down for awhile." He gestured to a cloth mat on the ground nearby. "I have some things to attend to, and the council will surely want to hear what I have to say about you. Please don't leave this room. I will send someone to help you adjust to the village, in a little while."   
"You are very very kind to moi." Harle smiled an appreciative but weak smile. The mat called to her and she could not resist its pull on her senses. Pulling herself above it she let her knees buckle and her back give out. Falling rather hard onto the mat she didn't stir from where she lay. And sleep came quickly. 

  
The sound of tinkering cooking utensils and the smells of a meal awoke Harle delicately from her slumber. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, nor did she care to find out. Turning over onto her other side so she could see the entire little room, she noticed a new face standing nearby. It was a young girl, perhaps a year younger then Harle was. She had long, well kept, and beautiful forest brown hair. Her arms were athletic and her legs were slender and strong. She wore browns, woven of that same fabric that Harle had seen on Juku. There was a purple band that tied around her forehead and came to a knot on the back of her head. The knot had two long strips of purple trailing off almost the length of her hair. Noticing that Harle was stirring out of her sleep she turned from her cooking.   
"Hello there." Her eyes were large and brown like a doe's eyes. And her voice was soft like Juku's. "I am Juku's sister Kimjuku. Just call me Kim or Kimmie for short. Everyone does." She flashed a bright smile and turned back to the meal she was making. Kim stirred a large wooden spoon that rested in a bubbling pot of what looked like stew. The pot rested, suspended above the fire pit on a metallic framework that had obviously been placed there for just such an occasion. "The stew is almost ready. Have a seat at the table."   
"Zhe ztew is pour moi?"   
"Of course it is! Who else would it be for?"   
"Of courze." Harle wondered if she had accidentally discovered Heaven, in her mad dash. Pulling her rested (but still aching) body off of the thin mat, Harle sat down again at the wooden table. There was a wooden bowl sitting in front of her, but a metallic spoon resting beside it. Apparently this village did it's share of trading, to have so many metal objects.   
"Here. It is my grandmothers recipe." Kimjuku spooned a few ladles full of the stew into Harle's bowl and sat down across from her. She helped herself to the stew as well and began to eat it at a slow but pleasing pace. Harle followed at the same speed, though her stomach wished she could inhale it all in a single mouthful. "You have gone through some terrible ordeals these last few days, haven't you?" Kimjuku asked between mouthfuls. "I'm sure you have some interesting stories."   
"Perhapez." Harle replied, hinting her desire to leave such conversational topics alone.   
"I see." Kim sighed slightly, but she was good-natured about it. "A difficult subject? I'm sorry." Harle only nodded her head slightly, in acceptance of the apology. "I'm not very good at making small talk."   
"Tell moi, about zhis village." Harle requested. "It seemz like zuch a ztrange place to live, non? How iz it zhat I cannot zee zhis village from zhe outside?"   
"We call ourselves the Hands of the Forest. This village is called Geal." Kimjuku took a spoonful of stew. When she had swallowed she continued. "We live off the land, but we do some trading with the port city Furre in the south west."   
"Zhe Handz of zhe forezt? Your warriorz, move so quickly and so quietly. Zhey muzt have much training to move like zhat." Harle commented.   
"We all have such training. It is part of our rites of passage into adulthood. Actually, I will be tested soon."   
"Tezted?"   
"The final part of the rites of passage. On my sixteenth birthday, I will have to begin several tests to see if I am ready to become an adult."   
"I zee." Harle was eating faster and faster, despite her desire to slow down. But besides the wonderful and meaty stew she was somewhat interested in what Kimjuku had to say.   
"I'm sorry, I didn't even ask you your name yet. What is it?" Kim laid her spoon down in her empty bowl. Somehow she had finished before Harle.   
"Harle." The broken jesteress replied.   
"Harle. Harle you have a strange voice, where are you from?" Kim stood and went back to tend the leftovers of the stew. She continued to stir it, making sure none of the contents became burned.   
"I am from, far away. It iz zhe tiny corner of zhe world called El Nido." Harle wondered if Kim had ever heard of Euore, but since Harle was not even completely sure how Euore factored into her own life, she left it alone.   
"I have heard of El Nido." Kim stated rather optimistically. "They do not have winter there, do they?"   
"Oui, zhat iz right. I am impressed you have heard of it." Harle finished her stew and let her gaze wandered out the door and into the village beyond.   
"We have many books, and the elder teaches us very well." Kim stopped speaking, noticing her guest was no longer paying attention. Instead Harle was distracted by the motions outside. People, who dressed much like Kimjuku walked about. Some had weapons, some had tools that Harle did not recognize. Many of them had varying symbols painted on their cheeks with equally varied colors of paint. Harle guessed that each symbol must have meant something, especially in such a village. Harle felt her heart beat loudly for a moment. She felt the push of blood through her body. And softly her mind fell upon Black Harlequin that was in the careful and silent arms of this primitive village.   
"You are thinking about your friend, aren't you?" Kim recognized the half smile. "Are you in love with him?"   
"Ah ... er... " Harle stumbled over herself for a minute. The question had caught her completely off guard. "Non! Non, of courze not! We are juzt zhe, good friendz..."   
"Hmm." Kimjuku nodded. "I see." But Harle did not see. In that recent flutter her heart was banging in her chest as if she had just ran a hundred miles through the snow. What had caused such an upheaval deep inside of her? She could not love him. For most of the time she knew him he was dying and unconscious! But she could not forget how she felt, wrapped up in his arms on the hammock in the forest. "Well, don't worry. He should be waking up soon."   
"...Really?..." Harle asked.   
"Yes. The shaman managed to do quite the miracle on your friend. But she says he should be fine in a few hours." 

  
Two days passed. Thankfully, Harle had been given fresh clothes to wear to replace her tattered and useless underclothes. The fabric was brown and amazingly comfortable. She wore a sleeveless shirt that was cut to reveal a little of her chest. It was made for large children, and so normally it was not a problem. But the villager made a rather big fuss about the skin she showed. How naive they were. She felt like telling them she had worn much less on many occasions but she decided that it was best not to give them any bad impressions of her. Though she would have rather worn a pair of pants or something with legs, she was given a skirt that came down to her knees. And she wore it without complaint. She only wished there was somewhere to bathe, as she had not been able to do so since she left the lake those many days ago.   
"...and so the elder has offered you a permanent sanction." Juku was talking to Harle as they took a stroll through the village. It was the first time she was allowed to leave her tiny room since she had arrived.   
"Zanction?" Harle asked, looking about casually but memorizing everything her eyes fell upon.   
"You can stay as long as you wish." Juku answered. "You and your friend. When you have both fully recovered, if you wish to stay you will be given duties equal to any adult citizen, so that you earn what will be provided for you."   
"Zhis elder iz not concerned I will leave and tell zhe world of zhis place?"   
"We are hidden away like this, only because we love peace. This is not a prison camp and we do study much of the outside world. Anyone who wishes to leave, is allowed to go at anytime and live abroad. But the magic of Geal has an interesting affect on someone. Once they leave, they will most likely, never find us again." And that was why Harle and Black had been accepted so readily. But this statement could not be entirely true, for how did Juku and his companions find Harle and Black, and then make it all the way back to Geal. There must be something that she was not permitted to know about, some way to return to the village easily. Or perhaps the lie was much deeper still.   
"Everyone haz been mozt kind." Harle finally stated. And indeed she had been treated with a great deal of respect. The only awkward times were when children asked her about her ever-white skin. She would answer them with a cool head, if necessary. But more often then not there was an adult near enough by to scold the child for being innocent and asking innocent questions. "It iz all zo much."   
"We know how it is to exist in the difficulties of the outside. And we are not above helping others in need. And we are not above defending the peace we have created here." He made a rough illusion to the combat skill all citizens possessed.   
"I am-"   
"Hello Harle." Someone cut her off from behind her back. His voice caused her face and body to freeze. "It has been awhile, hasn't it?"   
"B..." She turned to look at the carrier of the voice. He stood several inches taller then her, with a bandage wrapped tightly over most of his milky white chest. A black jester's hat with three tales sat atop his naked face. His face was nude, because the symbols he wore had not yet been painted on again. He wore only a pair of brown pants besides of all this. "Black...!" She ran forward towards him, and nearly jumped into his arms but she held back, merely trotting up to stand before him. "You are alright!"   
"Thanks to you." Black clapped his hands onto her shoulders affectionately. "I only heard a little of what happened. You made some serious sacrifices for me."   
"I..." She could not answer that.   
"Thank you." His face was warm and pleasant, and his voice was exactly the same with no trace of strain or weariness.   
"He asked for you constantly when he woke up." Kimjuku stated with a big smile on her face. "But the shaman would not let him get up to find you."   
"Come along Kimmie." Juku commanded as he too, began to leave. A knowing glance was exchanged between the siblings.   
"There are many things I want to talk to you about." Black stated with an earnest but unrushed tone. "I think, I have been out of touch for a long time. It feels like only hours but..." He looked to the edge of the city and the snow that fell down beyond. "...I think it may have been longer."   
"I am juzt glad, to zee you up and about." Harle found something tightening in her chest. All her dreams of Black, and her, were teetering on how he would act now in these few moments. Harle found herself backing up, slowly, in fear. She did not want to wake up from those dreams. She did not want to find out if Black was not the creature she had made him out to be.   
"What's the matter?" Black asked delicately. He noticed her fear. "Have I done something wrong?"   
"Non!" She squawked as he reached out to touch her. "Non..." And with that she turned and ran away from the bewildered pseudo-jester.   
"I did not go as well as you had hoped, did it?" Juku stepped out from nowhere. He could not resist spying on the strange visitors. "Perhaps you two were not as attached as I first thought?"   
"No." Black replied shacking his head. "It's just..." And he could not finish his sentence. Since his eyes fluttered open, all he could think about was Harle. When he finally found out she was safe, and that in fact she had dragged him on a two day hike through the snow, he became confused. Her face, her hands, they pushed away but she had pain in her eyes that he could not label.   
"Perhaps you need some more time alone. Another chance at a good conversation?" Juku stated simply.   
"Perhaps." Black noticed he was starring at the ground and he lifted his gaze to look at Juku when the warrior spoke.   
"I have spoken to my sister Kimmie. She will help you." 

  
"I heard that your reunion with your friend Black did not go well." Kimjuku stated as she caught up with Harle. The jesteress had been wandering about Geal for several hours now. But it becomes difficult to even call her a jesteress, as she had not worn a scrap of her harlequin attire in several days. Save her ever white skin, she looked like a normal human person. Even her hair had stopped conforming to her absent coxcomb and had become straight and manageable.   
"I do not want to talk about it." Harle stated rather coldly. How had Kim found out about this already? Small villages tended to talk too much for Harle's liking.   
"We have all had our share of difficulties." Such words from one so young as Kimjuku. "I know of something that always helps me, when I feel sad or frustrated." And Kim shoved a few bundles of white cloth into Harle's arms. The cloth was of a soft porous texture. "We have a bathing pool just a few yards over in that direction." Kim pointed off towards a tent-like structure off near one end of Geal. "You have not been allowed to leave your room for some time, a bath will do you good. Besides..." Kim smiled a broad and knowing smile. "...the bathwater is heated. If you go there now, I've already cleared it out and you can use it privately."   
"Zhis iz...." Harle finally smiled for the first time in a few hours at least. "...parfait." And she winked knowingly at Kim. With that she did not hesitate a moment longer and headed straight to the bath house. It was a luxury doubly accepted on such a long day.   
"Ah you must be Harle." The doorkeeper of the tent held up a hand to slow down Harle on her path inside. "I have been given instructions to clear out the bathhouse for you. It has already been done. We have a fine variety of soaps and oils for you, and we will have someone bring them in later."   
"Zhis place iz heaven, non?" Harle laughed lightly and finally entered. The steam was what bombarded her senses first. It felt almost like a sauna as she entered further in. The chamber was actually quite large and high, showing that many used this facility at once, whenever possible. On the inside she could see that it really wasn't a tent at all but a high clay dome. It was obvious the ground had been excavated quite thoroughly for the bathing pool itself was in the ground. The water was held in a gigantic man-man pool and it shimmered with the torches that burned all around. Eager to test the waters Harle shed her clothing and piled them neatly nearby. It seemed that the cloth that Kimjuku had given her, was a towel to dry off with afterwards.   
The water was absolutely perfect. It was just warm enough to promote a tender and glorious sensation, but not too hot as to burn and become irritating. For several long moments Harle stood in the bathwater. It was only up to just above her waist. Feeling about under the water she could feel a ledge that went around the mouth of the entire pool. More then likely it was where the people of the village sat. And so she sat and let the water cleanse her skin even while she rested completely still. The ends of her hair just touched the water, as it had risen above the tops of her shoulders when she had sat down. Every movement she made, caused a small splash and a small echo to radiate in the acoustics of the clay dome. It seemed to her healing body that she could not possibly be closer to a feeling of total relaxation without the aide of a stiff blow to the head.   
The cloth doorway of the bathhouse was pushed aside suddenly and the footsteps of someone as they approached, could be heard easily in the echoing bath house. There was a small rattle as if the person was carrying a tray or basket covered with small glass bottles. Harle stood still in the water as she listened to approaching servant. His smell was familiar, but Harle did not respond to it. Instead she let him continue, content to see what he would do and what he would say. He placed the tray off oils and soaps down beside him as he knelt onto the floor just behind Harle. First, he moistened his hands with the bathwater, gingerly placing them in besides Harle for just a moment. Then when they were thoroughly damp he poured on oil with a fruit bouquet over his two hands and rubbed them lightly together. When his hands were covered with the oil he began to work the oil through her hair.   
"I saw an emotion in your eyes, that wasn't there when I first met you Harle." It was Black's voice.   
"Oui." She would not hide herself, especially now when she was at her most vulnerable. She could not run, she could not cover herself, but shame was an emotion she did not feel under his eyes in particular. Somehow, she felt completely comfortable.   
"It was something besides your fear." Black stated simply. "It was a hope, and an affection, and maybe something deeper then that." Harle didn't reply with anything more then a slightly exaggerated exhale. She let her head bob back and forth slightly as he continued to kneed her hair and work her scalp with the oils. "Harle? Have you fallen in love with me?"   
"Zhat is *impossible!" The reply snapped quickly from her lips. "Mozt of zhe time I have known you, you have been unconscious, non? I cannot love zomething I do not know."   
"I didn't ask if it was possible. I only asked if it had happened." Black replied. There was a slight rattling from behind Harle as Black put down the bottle of fruit oils and lifted a small empty basin. He dipped the basin in the water beside Harle, and let it fill with water. Lifting the basin he let the spilling waters run out of the basin and down onto Harle's hair and back into the pool. He rinsed her hair several more times before he lifted another bottle of oils. These he lathered up slightly and began to work onto her neck and shoulders. She had such a small frame, even though he was not a large man himself. The way she spoke sometimes, she did not seem as young as she was. But she had in her something that many would call an "old soul." For several moments Black just massaged her shoulders and neck with the foamy oil, in silence.   
"Harle, you know I didn't call you to Euore as an act of mercy or kindness." Black began. This was his last attempt, and he was going to lay it all on the line. "You know that I have learned very much about you, these past years, and I know all your secrets and your thoughts. I know what you need, and what you want, and I know your dreams. I can give you everything you have ever wanted." He rubbed her shoulders slightly harder, as the emotions of his words overcame him. "You want someone who will love you, for you, despite everything. And you want someone who can care for you, and provide for you, and love you always. I can do that, and more, and I would gladly do it just to be with you."   
"Why?" She asked, her voice shaky and unsure. "I have zhe blood of zo many on mon own handz. I have done thingz, zhat I regret and zhat many would kill moi for. Why zhen, do you love moi zo much, and zo hard?"   
"Because your vulnerability, and your strength, is beautiful. You have a spirit inside of you I cannot leave alone. I want to be with you, even if I must loose a part of myself somewhere."   
Harle looked into the flickering water as she waited for what Black would do next. He began to roll and fold her hair up in a way that was familiar to Harle, but she was always doing it on herself. The reflection of memories touched the waters as the torches sent strange ghostly images across the water's surface. Serge surfaced in the waters of her mind. Who was this Black Harlequin? He was a dream. He had no reason to love her, save some weak emotional excuse. Serge felt now, a thousand times more real and present with her then the dream that was Black harlequin.   
"You are going to leave, aren't you." Black stated, rather then asked. He could see the change in her eyes, even in the reflection on the water.   
"Oui." She replied as he finished bunching her hair up on the top of her head. He took some hair pins and began to pin her golden yellow hair down in certain places around her head.   
"Why?" Black asked. Had he said to much? "Have I done something wrong?"   
"Non, it iz not you." She ran her hand over the water to clear the face of Serge from it's shimmering surface. "I have thingz, to sort out, alone." Black pinned the last bundle of hair into place and then dropped her headdress onto her head. The weight felt familiar and good, and the twinkling of the bells made her feel just a little like he old self again.   
"Will you come back?"   
"I will return. I promize." She offered up her most sacred vow, in her mind and in the tone of her voice. No matter what happened, she would be back. Even if it was to say good-bye, forever.   
"I will be waiting for you." Black gathered up all of the oils and the leftover hairpins, along with the rinse basin and stood. Soon he left the bathhouse, and Harle was all alone. 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	8. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 7

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 7 - "A Hatred for Potatoes" -=- 

  
The village of Geal had already closed it's magical gates behind her and she stood on the invisible outskirts holding her gift. She had not seen Black, since her bath, not that she had looked terribly hard for him. But a boy of the village had delivered to her a leather satchel that he had been instructed to give at the request of Black himself. Standing alone, she felt it was time to open up this last care package from her fading dream. The sack was sturdy, with a single leather shoulder strap that could prove uncomfortable for the last legs of her journey. Most of what lay on the top of the sack was food vittles. Each portion had been tucked and wrapped in a piece of cheap cloth to keep it somewhat fresh. Certain food items were still warm, showing how new they were. And though they were bland looking, Harle was thankful she would not have to hunt constantly to survive. Deeper down she found three decks of throwing cards. Immediately she put one in the pocket of her forest dress. Distantly, she patted her bulging pocket, relieved at some protection finally. There was some fire starting equipment and other wilderness survival tools but as she dug a strange sound touched her ear. It sounded like a muffled bell deep from inside the sack. After digging for a few more minutes she drew out a package tied with a small cord and wrapped in paper. The package actually seemed to make up most of the weight of the sack as she lifted it out.   
The ropes holding the package together came to a bow on the top. Tied to the bow was a small tag that simply read "I will be waiting for you." And she untied the bow and let the paper and bindings fall to the ground. Her eyes widened in to two perfect amber jewels. It was a red and blue harlequin costume, stitched to look exactly as her old one had looked. She had not worn a jester's costume in over a week, and she had not worn a costume in such good condition in months! Her fingers roved greedily all over the leathers and red and blues. It felt the same, even to her. Was this an illusion? Had she dreamed her old costume back from the grave? Rubbing it against her face, shutting her eyes to block the vibrant of the colors, it even smelled the same. Her old head dress was already on her head, but now she would look exactly as he had once looked. Stripping down in the brush of the forest she quickly pulled the clothing up and around her. She tested the strength of the fabric as she sewed up the fasteners that lined the sides of the upper portion of the garment. Carefully, as not to damage it, she pulled up the semi-transparent pantaloons until the tucked gently under the folds of her upper portion. Her gloves were next, followed by her curled shoes. Even a breastplate, forged of protective gold-colored metals lay amongst her reborn outfit. It snapped easily into place and in such a way that it was a rigid portion of the outfit. Next she wrapped the cape-like rear of her garment over her shoulders. It split into two tails with two little bells behind, while it came to a single blue jewel on the front of her chest. And finally, she inserted the two fuzzy pink earrings into the holes of each ear. An energy beat in her now, that had long since departed. And she felt as though a large portion of her soul had returned to her. For several moments she stood in her jesteress garb and pondered returning to Geal, and to Black. But Black had made this for her, or had it made for her, because he knew she would be leaving him eventually like this, no matter what happened. The satchel, the items, all of it was a testament to the fact he had expected her to leave.   
She brushed off a rough portion of her clothing only to find a strangely shaped metal object release itself from the folds of her breastplate and then fall silently into the dirt. It was an element grid! Picking it up, and blowing specks of dirt from it, she could not believe that he had found a grid for her so far out in the forest. With it, she could reuse elements instead of using them only once and throwing them away.   
Leaving her old forest clothes from Geal in the brush she threw the sack over her shoulder and ran out to begin her trip back to El Nido. As she ran she noticed the blue gem on her chest was beating with a faint light, but the further she traveled from Geal, the fainter it became. And she realized that Black had done this purposely for her. It would guide her back to Geal when she returned. She swore again, that she would return, even though she had sworn it a thousand times already. Though even with such gifts, she wondered deep down... 

  
"You want to book passage all the way to El Nido?" Worn into a cranky state, by the tiny patch of sun he saw through his ticket window, an old man behind looked down on the tiny harlequin. His eyes were almost shut, squeezed to slits with overuse and fatigue.   
"Oui." Harle confirmed.   
"And you want to get there as soon as possible?"   
"Oui."   
"And you have no money?"   
"Uh... Oui." Harle shrugged her shoulders with a big smile on her face. It felt good to be out moving about again, and traveling on her own wits again.   
"Impossible." The ticket seller responded. "We don't have any ships here that are heading to El Nido any fewer then three weeks from now. And they have this funny thing about wanting money for their tickets."   
"Rude!" Harle shook an index finger. "Iz zhere not anozher ship heading out zhat far? I will take anyzhing."   
"Hmmm." The ticket seller grumbled behind his teeth. Who was this little girl to tell him he was rude? The freaky circus performer. Reluctantly his eyes scanned across the harbor departure book until his gaze caught a suitable entry. "We have a Porre Pleasure Cruise Ship headed towards El Nido, but they aren't scheduled to stop there. You could always jump ship, swim to land, and hire a boat to take you to El Nido, if you really can't wait."   
"Ah! Zhat iz parfait! But..."   
"I know, I know. You don't have any money." The old man's throat rumbled in complaint again. "Go see the captain of the I.P.S. Trojan Horse, Captain Kracy. If you can get a job on the ship you can travel for free."   
"Ah! You are mozt kind!" And Harle lifted her sack to her shoulder.   
"Just head over to the ship, it's the largest in the port by forty feet, and ask to speak to the captain about a job."   
"But how can I pay for zhis kindness you have given moi?"   
"You don't have to pay for the advice." The ticket seller sighed a sad sigh, as if remembering something he had seen some time ago. "Just be careful, out there alright little girl? There are a lot of crazy people walking around now a' days."   
"Ah oui, I shall be *tres careful." And Harle's eyes danced in her head. She pitied the man who would ever cross her and stick around to feel her wrath.   
It had been a short hike of six days from Geal to the port city of Furre. Furre was the original port city where Harle had arrived with Nikki on he way to Euore from El Nido. So many things had changed since then but Harle felt somewhat the same, if not stronger. Nikki of course had left weeks ago for another exotic port of call. He would not always be there so conveniently to help her across the sea, not that she had expected him to be. And though the idea of traveling on a Porre ship was not the best thought she had ever thought in all her years of thinking thoughts, she still continued to look for the Trojan Horse. Her element grid full, her stomach full, and her head full, Harle pondered only in passing, what the world would lavish upon her next.   
The captain was a strange man of average height but thin build. His silver hair stuck out every which way, and even his captains uniform draped his shoulders, rather wrinkled and ill-kept. A large green bird, as if taken directly from a pirate's story book, rested on the captains shoulder reeking of it's own droppings. On occasion it would squawk and shout out a shrill sound, like unto speech.   
"So you don't clean, cook, sing, dance, wait on tables, or do any sort of house work?" He asked with a concerned tone. The bridge of the ship was large in proportion to the ship it serviced. Most of the coloring was of polished wood and brass and many crew members fluttered about making preparations for the departure the next day.   
"Oui, non of zhat." Harle had not lost her smile. Though she really needed to get on this boat she still played it cool, daring the captain to find a job for her. She had stood on the bridge for several minutes already, to no avail.   
"Here, take this." The Captain held out a small sharp kitchen knife. Harle took the knife from him, and held it tightly in her hand. "No go like this." He moved his own hand back and forth in front of him. Harle followed suite, moving exactly as he had moved. "Excellent!" The captain shouted in response to her. "Attention everyone! Say hello to our new head of the potato peeling brigade!"   
"Hello." All the crew members said dryly and in unison.   
"Head of the potato peelers! Squawk! Head of the potato peelers!" The parrot chimed in.   
"Shut up Molly." The captain ordered.   
"Polly!" The parrot then said.   
"Molly!" The captain became angry at the birds insubordination.   
"Polly!"   
"MOLLY!"   
"POLLY!"   
"Ah, this is what I get." The captain shook his head. "I'm just trying to be a little creative, and the stupid feather pillow won't even play along. Why do parrots always have to be POLLY anyway?!" The captain asked Harle with a perplexed looking face. His little fit over and done with he waved her on out of the bridge. "Go on, talk to the first mate about getting you a bunk..."   
"Don't worry about the captain." One of the ladies of the bridge escorted Harle from the floating command center. "He's just a little eccentric."   
"I like him." Harle replied with a grin.   
"Of course you do." The woman laughed a weak little laugh. She had forgotten for a moment she was speaking into the ear of a teenager who dressed like a clown for no apparent purpose. 

  
"Yeah! I'm first mate Skippy." A large and burly man, with a gruff face, and a gruff voice, and a gruff smell stood to his feet as Harle asked her question. The kitchen area was classic of any galley. Grease stuck to the walls and windows as if some great explosion had spewed the stuff all about. Stoves, large and stained with age lined up along one side feeding billows of hot smoke up into chimney pipes. A pile of potatoes towered in a corner, with intimidation, sitting beside a tiny stool and a peeling knife jammed into the wall. Such a small kitchen could not possibly service all the regal guests that would soon be aboard, and instead cooked the food for the sailors and the workers of the ship. "I heard we got us a new peeler. I guess you're it. A little artsy for a peeler ain'cha? " He spat on the floor, grinding his teeth into an abused tooth pick.   
"Oui, I am zhe head of zhe potato peeling brigade."   
"The wha-? Oh, yeah, the brigade." First mate Skippy shook his head with a small bent smile. "What do you think about that, huh Mince? Captain's getting worse every day."   
"Yeah yeah." The cook, a fat and depressed man stood in stained white cooking clothes over a stove. He seemed to stir the same pot the same way for hours as Harle watched. How could one blessed with humanity waste it on sadness?   
"Well, the sailors really love their potatoes, get to work."   
"I waz zupozed to get a room from you, non?" Harle asked. She did not want to sleep in the kitchen after all.   
"Oh yeah, you can bunk... in room B27, it's basement level two. A little dark and wet, but all your doing is peeling potatoes. You ain't gettin' no luxury suite. Oh, and little girl, don't be talking to the passengers. They get real testy 'round us workers. We don't smell good to 'em."   
"To who?" Harle asked, emphasizing her innocent appearance.   
"Don't you know you're on a cruise ship? I'm talking about the special-brass passengers of course!" Skippy sighed, and began to move towards the door. "They're all rich Porre Military Officials. A real aggressive and stuck up brood, the lot of them. For your own good, just peel potatoes, eat, and sleep. Good luck little girl." And Skippy left the room.   
"Ztrange zhat zuch zhe big burly man iz called Skippy, non?" Harle directed her light hearted comment to the chef. But he continued to stir in silence. It was going to be a long trip. 

  
And so Harle peeled potatoes. And she peeled some more potatoes. And more potatoes and more and more until she found herself hating potatoes. It was the next day, and the ship was far out to sea. She wished she could see Skippy again, at least he talked. All the cook did was stir, and add seasonings, and stir some more. Passively she wondered if he actually ever served any of the soup he spent so much of his life stirring.   
"I'm taking a break." And so the chef laid his soup stirring ladle down on the stove beside the giant boiling pot, and he left Harle alone with her beloved potatoes.   
"Oui." She called after him, though he was long gone and he didn't care whether she agreed with his break time or not. It became silent. So silent that Harle's ears began to ring and the boredom was intense, pounding in her skull. Every time she ran her peeler across a potato she felt her head pulse tighter with boredom. "Ugh! Enough with zhe potatoez!" She cried and threw one rather hard against the wall. It shattered into a thousand little potato shards that littered the ground. It was an improvement to the dripping and rat infested kitchen. Kicking a basket of peeled potatoes off a nearby stool she threw her legs up on it and lounged back in her chair. Careful to avoid her headdress she folded her hands behind her head and looked at the ceiling. It would be another full day of travel before the boat sailed near enough to El Nido to jump ship.   
Mischief poked her a little, provoking just a little smile in her face. She could think about it after all, as long as she didn't do anything right? But then again, who would even know if she did it? It would make her feel better. But what if she was caught? She could be punished or even thrown off the ship or held in the brig forever. Her bells jingling with warning she leapt to her feet and pulled out her entire deck of throwing cards. Her weapon in hand she began to threw potatoes up in the air, slicing them into minced squared with her blazing cards. Throwing cards rammed into the walls, and the floor and ceiling, cracking the glass window and causing a leaking gash in the chefs stirring pot. Like snow from the heavens potato bits flew about in wild directions as Harle's arms moved invisibly fast.   
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" The chef returns just as Harle threw her last card straight for the doorway he was standing in. He ducked down just before the card parted his single eyebrow. Instead it sliced his chefs hat in two and flew out to sea.   
"Uh... er..." The kitchen was a mess with bits of food plastered everywhere.   
"OUT! OUT OF MY KITCHEN!" The chef turned purple with rage, and quickly grabbed the Harlequin and threw her out onto the side of the ship. She crashed precariously against the guard rail but her balance was better then that. With an angry crash the door shut in her face, and she was left to her own devices.   
"Now I don't have anyzhing to do." She sat down in a heap, brooding and pouting everyway she could. For a moment she looked like a spoiled child who had her favorite toy taken away. "Bored, bored, bored...." She began to repeat rapping her head on the railing behind her. For several minutes she continued her miniature tantrum. Other workers just starred as they walked, wondering what such a freakish person was doing on the lower levels of the ship. The laughter and dainty chatter of the upper-classed Porre military officials rang out like a silver bell from the levels above. They all sounded so old, and so dull. Perhaps they would appreciate a little youthful company? 

  
"You aren't allowed up on this level without a pass! Hey... WOAH!" The guard blurted as Harle tossed him easily aside. Such young men should not guard the doors to such important people. With great confidence Harle stepped out amongst the rich Porre folk, each covered in gaudy jewelry, fat tugging silk outfits, fermented perfumes and elderly wrinkles. No one but the waiters and servants seemed to be younger then sixty years. Gold was strewn about in a blatant display of decoration. Even out on the deck, polished wood and gold plated metallic objects seemed to litter the otherwise simple and proud ship. Holding their thin crystal wine glasses and making terribly dry conversation with one another Harle was tempted to beg for her potatoes again. But they needed her! How could she turn her back on them? Who else could breathe life into such death? A jesteress of amazing skill, of course!   
Harle had wandered onto one of the many cocktail decks that lined the sides of the ships like thick armor plating. Along the floor sat expensive red carpet supporting furniture, soft chairs stuffed to the bursting point. Each seat grabbed tight at the rears of the oldsters, holding them down as the ship rocked back and forth with pleasing ease. Husbands and wives, women and men, generals and soldiers of wars fought long past sat about their tables waiting for death. All they had left were their memories, memories that they shared with great enthusiasm. Men told great weaving tales of their time spent in this battle and that. They threw their arms about in grand expression, calling attention even from those far from the table. Medals and awards of achievements tinkled against the old men's chests. Sitting beside them, baking in the sun and festering in their own juices, the women seemed hardly impressed with the men's stories (perhaps because they had heard the same words a thousand times prior).   
"Well hello there." One lady of considerable weight cooed at Harle with a curious tongue. "Are you an entertainer? This whole cruise has been dreadfully boring."   
"Ah, non. I am juzt zee average passenger." Harle sauntered through the crowd, her solid smile did not fade even with some of the rude comments she heard uttered behind her back.   
Without a second thought she jumped up into the air and landed precariously on the guard rail. If anyone had not noticed her yet, they noticed her now as she carefully balanced between the ship and the sea. Sometimes she would pretend to loose her balance and she could hear the shouts of panic. But despite all of that, she was in completely control.   
"I say! Young lady come down off of that!" One thin old lady with a high pitched and perfectly annoying voice hobbled dangerously close to the harlequin.   
"I say let her fall!" One old man called out, and his comrades joined with shouts. They were thoroughly enthralled with the unexpected performance.   
"What should we do?" One of the servants asked the headwaiter from there vantage point in the back of the lounging area. Their voices hushed amongst the shouting, Harle could still make out their words whispered behind cupped hands.   
"The old farts have shut up haven't then? This is probably some stupid surprise performance scheduled by the captain to liven things up a little." The head waiter, young and strong and impatient just stood back and took a little break against the ship's hull.   
"Come come! Listen to your elders and come down!" The thin old woman persisted with the naval bombardment on Harle's delicate ears with her incessant scolding.   
"I have a grand idea!" Harle suddenly turned towards the old lady. "Come up here with moi!" Harle lifted the old lady with one strong arm and dropped her down onto the guard rail beside her. The woman swung her arms about once, and promptly fell into the ocean.   
"Whoopee!" And old man shouted from the back. "... I mean... someone help my wife.. or something..."   
Alarms began to blare all over the ship as the life guards and retrieval squads began to make preparations to rescue the old woman struggling to stay afloat against the terrible treachery of the completely calm and placid water. Her arms beat against the ocean as if she hoped to batter it into submission, and have it lift her back into the ship with respect for her great fighting skill.   
"Quick!" A guard emerged on the outer deck. "Grab the clown girl!" And three more guard appeared behind with swords and spears drawn for the capture. Harle laughed a delighted laugh and began to run, still on the railing.   
"Whoa." One guard commented.   
"Never mind! She threw Lady Norma off the ship! We need to capture her!" The head of the group snapped, and took off after her. And the chase was on. Harle was quick and agile, as she always had been, and she left little more then her own laughter for the soldiers to follow.   
"Pardon moi!" She shouted as she leapt off the guard rail and straight into a waiter. He was balancing two silver trays piled high with wines and cheeses on little ceramic dishes. Needless to say the crashing sound was spectacular as the expensive food and drink exploded in a violent spray.   
Harle dashed into one of the large dinning rooms of the ship, the guards shouts nipping her heals. She went out of her way to flip over chairs and tables, and to knock waiters (heavy laden with delectable foods) to the ground into heaps of mess and wasted vittles. Guards suddenly appeared in front of her, and it became apparent that there were more then those three behind her, guarding the ship. With the grace she so loved to show off, she leapt over the guards in front of her, stepped on one of their heads to gain some added speed, and flipped through a huge glass window on the edge of the dinning room. The glass shattered around her but the sharp edges did her no serious harm. Back outside she jumped back onto the guard rail and waited for her loyal followers to catch up.   
"Ourevoir!" She waved her hand once as the growing number of guards almost fell upon her. And with the parting greeting she leapt skyward, grabbed hold of some outcroppings of the ship and pulled herself up onto the higher level above.   
"She's climbed up! Move it!" And the soldiers darted for the nearest convenient stairwell.   
"Stop!" One burly man with a long spear jumped in front of Harle as she climbed up onto the deck. She simply ran and slid beneath his legs, kicking the backs of his knees out as she bolted to her feet again. And her mad dash continued as she came upon a line of reclining passengers resting on long chairs. As more soldiers appeared behind she jumped up and ran across the length of the resting passengers, getting an orchestra of "oofs" and "owws" as she used their sagging stomachs for her running route.   
"End of the line sweetheart!" A soldier appeared out of nowhere in front of Harle, and swung his spear down to cut her with it's blazing tip. Just before it made impact, she disappeared completely. "What? Where did she go?" He looked all about, completely unaware that Harle was standing comfortable on his head. With a powerful downward kick she sent him to the ground and continued on her way.   
More and more soldiers began to appear, and Harle's options became more and more limited until suddenly she found herself completely surrounded on either side by swordsmen. And there were bowman on top with spearman on the decks below. She was completely trapped, without any of her throwing cards. Using her element grid in such close combat could sink the entire ship, and that was a catastrophe she would not like on her mind.   
"Alright! Alright." She sighed, lifting her hands. "I give up."   
A small bit of metal suddenly flew from nowhere and fell right at Harle's feet. It exploded in a blinding flash, causing all but Harle herself to cringe back and cover their sensitive eyes.   
"Run!" An unfamiliar but desperate voice shouted from nowhere. And Harle didn't need to hear the command twice. "Jump over the side!" With complete faith she leapt over the guard rail and began plummeting towards the sea. She did not scream, for below her was a large net that had been erected just where she was most likely to fall. Bounding into the net she quickly climbed back onto the ship. A Porre soldier ran up to her, heaving with heavy breath, as if he had just ran a great distance to see her.   
"Come on!" He shouted. "They'll be searching the ship and we have to hide you!" Though he wore the same outfit as the Porre army, he didn't seem to be fighting on their side. Just the same, Harle patted her element grid lightly and nodded.   
"Where iz it zhat you will hide moi?"   
"Down in the hold." And he bolted off towards a stair well, whether she followed him or not. Harle did follow after, her shoes making not a single sound on the metal floor. 

  
"Here." She had followed him for most of the length of the dark hold. Only the flickering fading light of a few scattered lanterns lit the way. The unnamed man stopped in front of a huge wooden crate that seemed to rise tens of feet into the air. "Our hideout." And he knocked on a strange panel on the cargo box, using a long but rhythmic pattern. The pattern was returned and the side of the box slid open. "Come on in." He gestured and stepped into the box.   
"Ah, zpooky." Harle giggled lightly and entered into the box behind him.   
The box was decorated quite nicely on the inside. There was four rolled up sleeping bags in the corners and four lanterns nailed to each side of the crate providing ample light. A small stove with it's chimney pipe fed directly up and out the top of the box, channeling its heat and smoky waste in some unknown but distant place. A ventilation vent had been channeled into the upper portion of the crate, pumping cool and fresh air into the stale box. It was obvious this crate was not built to carry cargo. Two figures sat waiting on their sleeping bags, unalarmed, until they saw Harle.   
"Who is that?!" One of them, a woman with short but bright red hair drew a small assassin blade and leapt to her feet.   
"Relax." Harle's escort replied with a reassuring tone. "She's with me."   
"Who is she Miguel?" The woman asked, putting away her blade. It seemed that Harle's escort's name was Miguel. It was an exotic sounding name to her ears.   
"She was being chased by the ship guards and so me and Jack staged a little rescue." Miguel replied.   
"Well, hello there clown girl." The woman flopped down onto her sleeping bag again. "Don't mind me if I seem cold. I just don't trust strangers, especially bright red and blue ones."   
"Ah oui, I underztand! I do not truzt girlz who cut zheir hair like boyz." Harle shrugged and smiled. She would not be pushed around, even by those who saved her.   
"Humph." The girl responded, letting the comment roll of her. She liked her hair short, and no freak girl was going to change that.   
"My name, is Timothy." The other male finally spoke. He had short blond hair and a hard face. He must have been the silent one of the group, stained such by unseen horrors in battle. "And that is Melinda."   
"Yeah, excuse her rude mouth." Miguel replied. "She just is getting a little cranky sitting in this box for all this time."   
"Shut up, Mig." Melinda responded with a sharp undercurrent.   
"You are all quite zhe hearty bunch, non? Je'mappelle Harle." She pointed towards herself to iterate that she had just said her name.   
"Harle, like in a harlequin?" Miguel asked with a whimsical lack of intelligence.   
"Oui." Harle nodded. "I zuppoze zo." Harle paused a moment before asking a more pressing question. "Why are you all hiding in zhis little box anyway?" Harle was impressed with how cozy, and almost livable they had made it, in such tight quarters.   
"We're deserters." Miguel responded with a certain level of pride in his voice. "We're heading for El Nido, or somewhere secluded near there, so we can finally get out of the army."   
"Ha! You want to leave zhe army? But zhe Porre army iz feared by all men." Harle reminded them.   
"Yeah, but once you're in you can never get out. And they make you kill and plunder like a savage sometimes and we cant stand the guilt." Miguel replied with an emotional but even tone.   
"Ah guilt. I am familiar with zhe feeling." Harle replied with a knowing sigh. "Why did you all zave moi? You do not even know moi."   
"We saw you were being chased by the army, and we figured any enemy of the Porre army is a friend or ours." Miguel replied, sitting down in a spot next to the small portable stove. He turned on the flames under a pot resting on the stove, boiling some water for coffee. " sides..." He continued. "You looked like a fun girl to talk to. If you don't mind me asking, what is a performer like you doing on a ship like this?"   
"I am not zhe performer." Harle chuckled at the title. "I am zhe... harlequin."   
"Yeah, a stage clown, a performer." Melinda chimed in.   
"Ah very well." Harle shrugged and sat on the floor, folding her legs across one another. "I am zhe performer."   
"So what are you doing on a Porre ship?"   
"I am leaving zhe only man who haz probably ever loved moi."   
"That makes no sense." Melinda stated plainly.   
"Will you leave the girl alone?" Miguel replied quickly. "Why are you doing something like that Harle? That doesn't seem right."   
"Bah." She waved her hand to dismiss his judgment. "He has nozhing more zhen infatuation pour moi. Not love. I am going to zee zhe only man I have ever loved, but who will never love moi."   
"Why?" Miguel asked the simple question Harle had put off all this time.   
"I do not know." And it was true. Harle was not completely sure why she had even left Black in the first place. What he had, might have been infatuation. But such things could turn into feelings of much great meaning, couldn't they? But Serge was a chapter in her life that had still not yet been finished. And she had to try and finish that chapter, and complete all her childhood ambitions.   
"You're strange." Miguel finally concluded. "You seem so mixed up, but your so happy!"   
"It iz zhe traveling." Harle answered. It felt good to be out making trouble, and living by her own sweat and planning. "I am at mon bezt when I am wandering." 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	9. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 8

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 8 - "Harle, Slayer of a Thousand Men" -=- 

  
An hour passed in the box. Every minute seemed to cause the small hiding place to shrink around Harle. With every inhale and exhale the air felt as though it was turning stale and sour.   
"Where is Jack?" Melinda finally stated. It had been silent some time now as the stove made the box uncomfortably warm. "It's been too long, and he hasn't come back yet."   
"He could have been captured." Miguel answered with a grim but realistic tone of voice. Jack had been the fourth member of the little group. He had thrown that flash bomb at Harle's feet to distract the soldiers. But he had yet to return. "I'm going to look for him." And Miguel slid open the doorway of the box, and climbed out into the cargo hold. "If I'm not back in an hour, Timothy or Melinda come after me."   
"What about moi?" Harle asked, with a hurt tone.   
"I think you may be recognized." Miguel chuckled. It would be impossible for her NOT to be recognized. "Don't worry. I'll be back."   
The minutes ticked by, and Harle sat painfully and silently in the corner of the box. She was thankful to her new friends or comrades or whatever they were, but the silence was starting to get to her. She began to chatter mindlessly at Melinda who only sat and listened with an uninterested expression. Harle ignored the depressed faces that Melinda kept radiating back at her, and with some persistence, Melinda began to respond. After some more doing the two ladies began chattering away quite comfortably though Melinda's face rarely cracked a smile.   
"My grandfather," Melinda said looking distantly as if to remember his face. "said that those with red eyes are demons and should be killed."   
"Oui. I am a demon." Harle responded with little humor but also little seriousness. "But what did he zay about zhe green eyez?" She asked, looking into Melinda's emerald eye color.   
"He used to say that people with green eyes, had lots of spirit." She shrugged. "I don't feel like I have lots of spirit. I've been in the military so long the spirit, just kinda left me, you know?"   
"Hmm. Oui." Harle nodded with a finger to her lip. "I zhink I do know what you mean." The conversation was starting to become interesting and Harle pressed the matter a little. "Do you remember when you had zpirit? Perhapez when you were zhe zmall child, non?"   
"I don't remember." Melinda shook her head lightly. "I only remember laughter, when I was young. Laughter and flowers. Then I joined the military, and here I am, running away from it." A loud series of knocks suddenly shook the two from their conversation. It was a rhythmic coded knock that sounded familiar. Timothy slid aside the door to the box, and sure enough Miguel pulled himself inside.   
"Any luck?" Melinda asked casually.   
"None. Something strange is going on." Miguel replied. "I was all over the ship but I didn't see more then two guards."   
"But zhere waz at least thirty zoliders chasing moi." Harle protested. "Did you check everywhere?"   
"I checked in ever conceivable place but it's as if the soldiers just disappeared." Miguel plopped himself down on the floor. "I don't get it. And then there is Jack. He's disappeared too. I don't even know if he's been captured or where he's been taken."   
"Zhis is mon fault." Harle responded with determination. "I will find him." And she crawled out of the box and into the darkened cargo hold. Timothy crawled out quickly after her, grabbing her arm as she began to walk. "Let moi go! I muzt go and find Monsieur Jacque!" She insisted, tugging on the strong grip of Timothy.   
"We went through allot of trouble to save you. You will not get killed now." He replied with his soft and understanding voice. But Harle pulled violently anyway, unwilling to be controlled. Timothy would not let go, determined to protect what his friends had saved. Pooling some of her draconic power into her arm, finally she executed one last yank. Her arm slipped from his grip and flew forward, smashing into a cargo box nearby.   
"Look what you did!" Miguel crawled out, hearing the noise. "Now they'll know someone's been down here."   
"Look." Timothy commented with raspy thought, pointing to the hole of the cargo box. Tiny black crystals were slowly seeping out of the large hole. Timothy picked up one of the crystals, examining it closely. "What is it?" But Harle didn't need to examine the item closely to see what it was. A stream of common, but still deadly elements were flowing from the box. They appeared to be an endless supply of Gravity Blows, from their shape and cut.   
"Zhey are weaponz." Harle whispered in astonishment. "I have never zeen zo many in one place before."   
"I think I have heard about these kind of things." Miguel chimed in, picking one up for himself. "Elements, they are called? They are made from magical materials dug right out of the ground."   
"Oui." Harle responded, taking a handful discreetly and shoving them in a hidden fold in her clothing. After all, they were just lying there begging to be plundered. "But what doez zhe pleazure cruise ship need with zuch powerful magic?"   
"It isn't a pleasure cruise." Melinda had been watching the entire thing silently.   
"Then what is it?" Miguel responded.   
"I don't know." 

  
The group of four spent the next several hours exploring the cargo hold in greater detail. It no longer mattered that they conceal themselves. With the prospect of a hidden agenda aboard the mighty I.P.S. Trojan Horse, they were completely preoccupied with discovering this secret. More elements were found. In fact there was a small wealth of low level elements strewn about in boxes all over the place. They were every color of the rainbow and with a little preparation whoever owned these varied elements could match any innate color they came across, in much greater force. More conventional weapons were found, like bows, cross bows, swords, spears, and the like. Light leather armors were also found along with leather caps and steel colored metal shields. It was apparent that the hull was full of battle equipment. But more curious then all the battle equipment was the fact that the group also found many lengths of lightweight (but still very strong) chains. What did chains have to do with the armory they had uncovered?   
"Maybe there is another part of the ship we haven't found yet." Miguel stood over the last box that the four dared to open. It contained a large number of Photon Ray elements.   
"That is possible." Timothy concurred. "We have not explored the ship that carefully since we arrived. We could have missed something."   
"What good would it do us?" Melinda asked lethargically. "So what, if all the old guys up there are heading towards some stupid war somewhere. It doesn't concern us."   
"Jack, concerns us." Miguel reminded her. "And we are going to find him, even if we find him in little bitty pieces." Miguel clenched his fists tightly. "If they've hurt Jack, those old guys will wish they had never heard of a pleasure cruise ship."   
"Calm yourself." Melinda responded. "Maybe you're loyal to Jack, but he was careless to fall into their hands, if he did. He had plenty of flash bombs and he was no idiot either."   
"Sometimes..." Miguel shook his head back and forth slowly, a frustrated vein bulging out on his neck. "... I wonder whose side you are really on."   
"Whatever." Melinda retreated back to their box home.   
"Don't worry about her." Harle reassured. "She haz juzt lozt her zpirit."   
"What?" Miguel replied with a raised eyebrow.   
"Never mind." Harle waved off the question. "What are we going to do about Monsieur Jacque?"   
"Well, we've got to search the ship again somehow, and allot more thoroughly." Miguel responded with a determined nod. "But we cant go running around in Porre military outfits before we are found out, and we can't even impersonate a passenger, because we aren't as old as they are."   
"We will have to send someone out, to distract the guards, and then the rest of us will be able to search." Timothy concluded. " It is the only realistic way."   
"But who will be the distraction?"   
"Moi!" Harle smiled broadly. Wonderful! She would get to make allot more trouble for the Porre idiots. They could never catch her, even on their best day.   
"You? You want to be chased again?" Timothy asked confused.   
"She enjoyed the chase, I think" Miguel responded with a knowing smile. "And besides, she had moves I could never pull off. She was all, jumping from deck to deck, on the outside of the boat and jumping over peoples heads and all sorts of crazy stuff like that." Miguel moved about as if to pretend to copy Harle's agility. "I wondered if she even needed our help, until she was cornered."   
"What will keep her from being cornered this time?" Timothy asked.   
"I have zhese thingz." Harle pattered her sack. It was engorged with stolen Porre elements, since she had used up the contents within long ago. "Do you have any more flash bombz?"   
"Yeah, here are a few." Miguel produced three tiny silver marble shaped objects and dropped them gently into Harle's gloved hand. "Careful, their delicate and can go off in your pocket or something if you they are smacked around."   
"I will be careful." Harle responded. 

  
"The sun is almost down." Miguel whispered from their hiding place in the shadows of a stairway. "When it is completely dark, we'll make our move." All four of them were there, even Melinda, and they were anxious to get started. Harle had limited the number of elements she took, filling any empty spaces on her grid. Her costume had many tiny hidden pockets to store a hidden and expendable element or two. And her clothing felt just a little weighed down with the extra firepower she was packing. Her heart beat against her chest, delivering all kinds of pleasure to her brain. This was what she lived for.   
The last drips of yellow sun cascaded down below the horizon, and the sky fell dark. Stars winked on and off above, and the moons swept across the heavens, but they would not give away the night-stalkers on the ship. For Harle was born of them, and they would care for her.   
"Let's move." Miguel finally ordered, and the four rushed out onto the deck. Harle ran one way, towards the bow of the ship, and the others ran for the stern.   
"Quick, spread out and check all the doors. See if anything is locked, or leads somewhere we haven't been yet." Miguel ordered once they reached the back end. Everyone spread out and began to test doorknobs, peeking their head down long hallways and generally disturbing any of the elderly passengers they came into contact with. Photon Beams cut the night sky far on the other side of the ship, as Harle did her very best to gain the attention of every breathing thing aboard the I.P.S. Trojan Horse. The bright lights of her white elements did a perfect job of ruining the night sky and calling all the guard to her.   
Melinda stepped in front of a door and bent over slightly to pull the handle but before she could even grasp it, it swung open. The heavy metal door almost crushed her against the side of the ship but she managed to deflect it, and the person who emerged did not even seem to notice her. It was a Porre soldier.   
"Where did he come from?" Miguel asked.   
"Beats me." Melinda shrugged.   
"Open the door." Timothy urged Melinda, and he stood back, ready to attack if anything should go wrong.   
"It's locked." Melinda reported. "It must open from the inside only, without a key."   
"Let me try it." Miguel pulled a long and slender piece of metal from a hidden pocket. Inserting it into the keyhole of the door he began to work the tumblers of the lock. Click… click… CLICK.   
"Hurry it up already." Melinda urged. "We have no idea when another one's gonna come busting out of there!"   
"Don't rush me! This is an art form." Miguel responded with indignation. "Got it!" And with a springing sound the door swung open.   
"Great! Lets see what's in there." Melinda rushed into the darkened hallway, and disappeared.   
"She was so cautious, and now she's running in there headlong." Miguel sighed. "Women. I can never figure 'em." And he followed her into the darkness. Without a word Timothy also followed. 

  
"Come on, mon ami." Harle whispered in desperation. A great deal of time passed, and her friends had not yet signaled her to return. When it was safe to return to the cargo hold they were to launch their own Photon Beam into the sky and head directly for the cargo hiding spot. Quickly she cracked another Fire Ball and hurled it into the abdomen of a guard. Clawing at his burning clothes he tumbled over the side of the ship screaming, into the cooling dangerous ocean below.   
"Stop right there!" Another soldier threw a long spear at Harle. She flipped around it, and came to a landing behind the soldier. Kicking his legs out with a single sweep she picked up him up, and threw him over the side with a grunt.   
Alright, it was her turn to do some exploring. She had to find her friends. And with that she turned and jumped over the railing, her arms spread out as if she was embracing the sea below.   
"Go look for her!" One of the guard captains ordered and they all ran over to the side and stuck their heads over to look. With a laughing howl Harle flew back up from the ocean, carried by the force of a Photon Beam. She had turned it towards the ocean and had used it's motion to propel her skyward. Expertly she landed on the highest deck, far from the guards that were closing tightly around her. And quickly she ran about the ship, dodging guards and searching for anything mysterious at all. 

  
The door was open, but no one was around. By the springs hanging out of the keyhole Harle could tell that the lock had been worked open by someone, someone without a proper key. It must have been where the others had gone. But this was right near where they should have started to look. They shouldn't have gone down that single hallway for this long. And Harle went in after them. For many steps she tumbled through the darkness until she felt the awkward feeling of someone's eyes on her, even in the dark. Touching her element grid, Harle cast *Holy Circle, and with fervent light the hallway exploded into view. There, standing between Harle and a bend in the hallway was Melinda, with a long sword drawn in her hand. Blood had dried on the blade, as if she had used it in the most violent manor and had yet to clean it off.   
"It iz moi." Harle called, relaxing a bit. "Where are zhe otherz?"   
"I know who it is." Melinda cracked a smile. It had been the first time that Harle had seen her smile yet. And for some reason Harle felt her spine tingle.   
"Where are zhe otherz?" Harle asked again, grasping two handfuls of throwing cards. She had been careful to save them, doing away with the guards in the most non-lethal manors.   
"Others?" A voice suddenly asked, a new figure turning down the bend of the hallway behind Melinda, and stepping up beside her. He was tall, and he wore the angled and proud uniform of a general. His hair was gray and well combed, resting below his pointed green hat. Holding a small whip, he slapped it gently in his hand. "Do you mean those foolish men who were giving you sanctuary in that ridiculous cargo box hide away?"   
"...Oui..." Harle growled. Something had gone terribly wrong somewhere.   
"They are dead." Melinda responded.   
"Dead!?" Harle shouted back. This was completely wrong. "Who did zhis to zhem?"   
"Who? I think you can guess." Melinda waved her bloody sword about a little, to signal the answer. "You are so naive little harlequin."   
"You... you betrayed uz..." Harle felt her heart sink low into her chest. A dark dead had been done that day. "Why...?"   
"Because I was ordered to." Melinda answered casually.   
"We are not stupid." The General responded with a wicked gleam in his teeth. "We knew of Miguel, Jack, and Timothy's plans almost before they did. We sent Melinda to them, to undermine them and eventually bring them to justice when the time came. Treason is punishable by death."   
"Zhey juzt wanted to live outside of zhe army! You have no right to kill zhem!"   
"I have EVERY right to kill them." Melinda charged forward towards Harle with her bloody sword. "But don't worry! You will be following after them soon enough." Harle was not smiling anymore. Playtime had ended the moment she had entered this dark hallway.   
"You have much to learn, mon ami." Harle responded, throwing out a spray of throwing cards. Melinda did her best to block them, but they traveled too fast for her to even see them. One cut deep into her shoulder, another into her arm, another into her leg, and yet another into her foot. Several smashed into her sword, sending it flying off behind her. And she fell backwards in the hallway, tearing the cards from her flesh and holding her own gapping wounds.   
"G-Go on..." Melinda laughed a weak and wretched laugh. "Kill m-me."   
"I guess your grandfather waz right, non? Zhe zpirit never left you. It juzt turned into an evil black demon."   
"Maybe I should have had the red eyes." Melinda had no regrets, as the blood drained from her body.   
"Ourevoir, mon ami." Harle pulled out a Hell Bound element.   
"You can't kill me. You don't have the guts." Melinda challenged.   
"Ah but you zee, I have killed hundredz of humans in mon life. You are zhe firzt I will ever enjoy." And she cracked the element between her teeth, spitting the contents onto Melinda's aching body. A flash of light, a terrible rush of wind, and Melinda was gone. Only Harle's cards were left, bloodied but useable. When she had gathered them up, and cleaned them off she turned to look down the hallway. Of course, the Porre General had vanished. He talked big, but like all the rest he could never back up his useless blustering.   
Running forward with little concern for anything but the satisfaction of her burning questions, Harle progressed. She plunged directly into a huge cavernous room somehow hidden in the deep underbelly of the ship. It was mostly made up of un-sanded wood beams and similar floor paneling. By the shoddy workmanship anyone could guess this room was added to the ship much later after it's maiden voyage. And whoever had done it, had done a poor job of it. She came to a stop on the top of a long descending metal stair case. The stairs led directly into the heart of a several hundred Porre soldiers all looking upwards at her. Amidst all the troops, the cowardly Porre general stood smiling and preparing his men to attack. So, this was where all the soldiers were hiding. But why all the secrets? Why all the weapons? And why did the elderly of Porre come along as well?   
The General rose a hand in the air, holding it steady above his head. In instant submission the soldiers fell quiet. Their eyes burrowed deep into Harle's body, as if they were catching her scent. A quick flick of the General's wrist sent the soldiers barreling forward and they squeezed onto the stairs pushing towards Harle.   
"Get her!" The General shouted over the commotion. "Don't let her escape! A thousand gold to the first to bring me her head!"   
"Non good." Harle mumbled to herself. There was a rather large number of soldiers, and she was not sure if she could kill them all before they overran her position. And so she ran back into the hallway again, just before a swarm of arrows fell where she had stood. Running back through the maze of darkness Harle's ear tugged her to a halt. There was a sound emanating from somewhere to her right. It was a small side hall that she had ran right by before without even glancing towards it. Numerous sounds of rushing feet forced her to make her decision quickly, and she turned and ran down the sub hall. After a few more turns, she came to another fork of halls. Following the moaning sounds she continued down the left fork. Eventually, she came to a room lit with four torches, one on each wall. It was a dead end room, and it looked to her like a human slaughter chamber. Miguel, and Timothy were strung up on the wall like trophies on display. It seemed they had been shackled there until Melinda ran them through. Harle could only hope, they found the freedom they so craved. And unexpected nausea touched the back of her neck.   
"...M-Miguel... Timothy... wake up... "   
Harle had not noticed a third figure, laying in the corner of the room clutching his stomach with a bloody arm. With a weak and ravaged voice he called out to his friends but they would never respond. He knew it was so, but he continued to call them, as if his will would bring them back again. His hair was black and cut short in a military style. He wore a tattered Porre uniform as well, but it was bloody and defiled. If he was not crumpled on the floor one might even say he had an imposing frame. But he was a shell of a man, waiting for his blood to run out of his body completely.   
"Monsieur Jacque?" Harle called delicately to the dying man. She had never seen the fabled Jack, but this had to be him. Who else would care of Miguel and Timothy's passing.   
"... you ... " Jack turned to look at Harle, and smiled a weak and distant smile. "You s-survived after all." Yes, it was Jack. Ironic how he had outlived all of his friends in such a way. Harle rushed to him, touching her grid and casting a Cure upon him. It was too late for any magical cure but it would at least lessen his pain.   
"Oui. I zurvived. I... " Her voice faded. She could not say anything.   
"My men..." Jack reached with his other hand towards the wide eyed Miguel. They did not even have the decency to close the eyes of the corpses. "... we were so close to our dreams. So... close... " With a weak grip Jack tugged on the folds of Harle's sleeves. "You are our dreams now. You are the last one of us to ... l-live..."   
"I cannot!" Harle yanked her sleeve back in fear. Did this man know who he was talking to! She had no stake in human dreams or ambitions! Good or bad, she could not do anything.   
"Please..." Jack touched her hand again. "Live for us..."   
"What iz going on in zhis ship, mon ami?" Harle asked, trying to lift the immense man. But his weight was too much and the Cure element was already fading from his body.   
"Its a disguise." Jack mumbled to himself. His speech was getting weaker. But this was important information and he could not die yet. "This is... a s-slaving ship. They are not passing El N-Nido... they are heading to it... to a small village... turn all of the villagers i...i-into slaves... Arni.........you are.... our dreams ... little jesteress......" And his spirit tore from his body with a violent exhale, and flew out to wherever it was to go.   
Harle never felt rage, like she felt then. It was a good sensation, a most human reaction and she was pleased with herself deep down. There was a time, that even all of this drama would not have phased her for a moment. Slowly and with ominous silence Harle stood to her feet. Her hands were balls of furry, her eyes irritated with tears. It was not enough for Porre to kill off these innocent dreamers, no that was just the beginning. Then there were intent on making slaves on all of those at Arni village?   
"You seem angry, why is that?" It was the General. Flanked by several bowman and swordsman he was again talking with confidence. "I thought you would have realized by now what this ship is for."   
"You... barbarian." It was all Harle could think of to call him. Slavery? What primitive beliefs!   
"Yes, our government finds slave labor to be cheap AND efficient." The General chuckled to himself. "Perhaps, we won't kill you off quite yet child. Maybe you would like to taste slavery for yourself? Before you so openly condemn it that is."   
"Why did you choze Arni village, for zhis little harvezt of yourz, hmm?"   
"Our operatives in Termina told us that no one would miss the villagers. They have no trade with anyone. They are a subsistence community and worth nothing to anyone at all."   
"Zhey are worth zomething to moi." Harle prepared herself. This ship was going to be a floating grave yard, on a one way journey to Hell.   
"Pathetic. Soldiers! Attack!" And the arrows flew again, followed by spears and the rushing of the swordsmen. But Harle stood still, and the weapons flowed about her, not even cutting her clothing. Her cards sliced the air in morbid response, their target was clear, and their speed was blinding. Just before they impacted against the Porre General, he tipped over one of his swordsman guards so that the swordsman caught the cards in his unwilling abdomen. And before the body even hit the floor, the General was already gone. With all the hateful things that Harle thought of this man, she had to admit that he was a fast runner. Cracking a green element she stood back as intense winds tore through the hallways. Razor edged leaves cut into the flesh of the soldiers, sending them to the ground in piles. Jumping through the falling enemies Harle cracked and threw a Black Hole element over her shoulder. The wind was intense for a few moments as a large portion of the ship fell in on itself. But Harle pulled through and burst out onto the main deck of the boat again. It was terribly dark still, the moons had only begun their journey. The glints of a hundred weapons sparkled in the night sky, as if to emulate the stars.   
Two arrows were let fly, and Harle caught them, one in each hand. She leapt above a soldier, spinning about and planting the wayward weapons in his back, before kicking another squarely in the jaw. Cart wheeling through a crowd of swordsmen they slashed at her, only to cut empty air. They did not even notice the elements she had left behind until it was too late. Spikes of pure ice instantly impaled most of them, while crushing any that had escaped such icy torment.   
A line of spearman followed, twirling their weapons about with mediocre proficiency. Harle took to the air, jumping hard and high and raining her death cards down on them. One lone spear was thrown upwards but before it even rose more then a few feet, it was cut to splinters in the rain of Harle's throwing card furry.   
"She has black innate powers! Use white elements on her!" It was the Generals voice again. He was issuing orders but she could not see him anywhere. Photon Beams began to fly about aimlessly all over the ship. One particular blast cut along the deck, obliterating the wood paneling with great force. She turned and ran as it pursued its dangerous path. Just before it struck her, the energy ran dry and the beam faded. Those who used such magic had no training, and no control. Distantly, she wondered if they even could have taken Serge and his village if Serge was as good a fighter as he had been once before. Harle threw her head back, gazing upwards to the very top of the ship. The observation deck was crowded with bowman and element casters trying to snipe Harle right off the deck as she moved about the lumbering soldiers. Her movements could not be traced by them so easily and they had hit many of their own men, but the elements were becoming a nuisance.   
"Matching elementz iz a common ztragety." Harle stated with a teacher's confidence. "But you all have a lot to learn, non?" And she cracked open a white element, grasping its power tightly in her hand she suddenly threw her glowing fists upward. The rivers and channels of outer space responded to her whims, as two huge meteorites came burning into the planet's atmosphere. One impacted in the ocean near the ship, sending waves of massive size in all directions. The other came down across the heavens, impacting the ship in such a way as the entire top half of the boat was torn completely off and burned up instantly. Fires began all over the ship as the power of the summoned meteorites died away.   
Harle ran down a familiar hallway, coming into the fortified cargo area. The armor of the hull kept the cargo hold secure and the box hideaway Miguel, Timothy, and Melinda had used, was largely unharmed. Laying inside was Harle's bag of elements, still full almost to the bursting point. Shoving a handful in a pocket she threw the sack over her shoulder and ran back to the battle outside. Many of the soldiers ran about in complete disarray, putting out fires, unsuccessfully attacking Harle, escorting the elderly to the life boats, or just generally running about in utter panic. Their numbers had thinned, and it was apparent they had just about their fill of the rouge Harlequin. But she was not nearly done with them yet. They wanted a fight? Then they were going to have a fight, until SHE said it was finished.   
Harle stepped towards the front of the ship, killing those around her as she walked with little thought or energy. Her cards were almost gone, but she never had trouble parting with one, as a gift to a passing soldier. She could see a group on the very bow of the ship. They had assembled for a last stand against the Lunar Dragon. She would have to accept their invitation.   
"Steady men." The General spoke with a soothing tone as Harle approached. Her eyes, were glowing red as though she had taken hold of a dark power. It was embarrassingly apparent how intimidated the soldiers were, but somehow they stood firm. "She is just a child. She has been confusing us, that is how she has gotten this far. Focus, and she cannot escape. What!? What is the meaning of this?" The Generals speech suddenly ended abruptly as he began to protest the actions of his men. Many fell to their knees, casting down their weapons, while others had taken a submissive hold of their General.   
"Please demon! We do not wish to fight any longer!" One of the soldier called, as he held on of the Generals arms tightly behind his back. "We have families, wives and children and homes. We cannot die for such a meaningless thing, as this. We surrender! Please. Just let us go home."   
"Home?" Harle's eyes flashed brighter. The hate she had cherished just a little while ago had clouded her completely now. She could not feel, or think. Blood lust had wrapped its fingers about her tiny throat. "Zhat waz zhe place you were going to deztroy. Zhe home of mon loved onez."   
"Please! We were just following orders!"   
"Enough." Harle drew an element from her great sack. "You have been cowardz all of your livez. Now you have zhe chance, to die like men." And she cracked the element between her finger and thumb. Electricity gathered in the heavens, in a great glowing yellow ball. Such powers were Harle's to control, as long as the powers of the Electro Bolt element coursed through her body. The yellow power immersed the doomed souls. Screeches of pleasing agony erupted from their mouths, and eyes. Each clutched their chests as their vital organs turned to a fine liquid inside of them. All of the screaming ended abruptly as the magic faded away. Piles of useless flesh and smoking bone they all collapsed onto the deck. All of them, but the Porre General.   
"It was wise, what you did." The General smiled a gleaming wicked smile. "They were useless creatures. You and I, we understand the true power of a human soul." Harle could not even bring herself to speak to the man, though her mind was laden with things she yearned to say. "Is it revenge you want, child? Kill all the old passengers, rowing away from this ship for their lives. They killed more in moments then you have killed in this whole evening. They are former Porre officers, tagging along this expedition so they could watch the destruction of your precious Arni from afar."   
"You, are trying to diztract moi." Harle was not amused by his pseudo-philosophical talk, and his play on her emotional state. Harle took three Fire Ball elements and cracked them just slightly. The energies of the elements began to seep through, but they were not fully activated yet. If she was not careful, they would erupt in her hand, of their own will. Cautiously, she pushed them deep into the sack full of elements.   
"Demon, you sparred me of the fate of my men. You could have killed me, but you could not bring yourself to do it. I am forever in debited to you. And when I return to port I shall-" His words were cut short by Harle's laughter. It was a hollow evil laugh, her voice that of a child, but here eyes alive with human urges as ageless as the first sin.   
"I have done a terrible thing today." Harle finally calmed herself. "Zhese men died, at mon handz. But it iz not over yet, non?" And she threw the sack straight towards the General. Without a second thought she jumped over the side, barley disturbing the water as she cut through it's surface.   
"What is the meaning of this?" The General caught the bag without effort, and held it tightly as if it would tell him the purpose of the action. Just then, the three Fire Balls shattered completely, and were set off. Three volatile elements, trapped in a sack of unfathomable magical power. With rainbow colors only seen in dreams, the ship exploded. The destruction held such violence even the hull was torn into shards. There was nothing left to sink to the ocean floor, for it had all been disintegrated to nothing at all. Harle's head bobbed up and down in the ocean as the lightshow lit up the night sky. And the ocean cooled her anger slowly, as the salt stung her mourning scarlet eyes. 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	10. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 9

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 9 - "The Close of the Unfinished Chapter" 

  
When Harle reached the shore of the Barrier Mountains, she crawled up upon the shore and sat down on the harsh and unyielding sands, starring down at her hands. For hours she sat there, starring at her hands (and sometimes the horizon). Her emotions hovered between death, and joy, and sorting them became a problem for her. She was not used to feelings. Most of her life, she had little emotion at all. She remembered herself as a child. Her early years had been spent on the top of a tall flat plateau, where mists of the parting atmosphere would keep her delicate skin cool, and moist. The Sky Dragon would fly the currents of the air when they moved him, and return with the flesh of large sea creatures which he would burn with his magical breath, and Harle would feast. Her earliest memories were of that simple little existence. Somehow, she had always known how to speak, and her accent was a portion of her being though the language from which it stemmed had long since passed away (or had yet to be invented?).   
She didn't wear clothing then. Such a concept had never been taught her. But when she turned ten years old, the White Dragon prepared her to leave the nest he had hewn for her. He spoke for many days of a man called Wazuki, and the pseudo-leopard shape he had assumed. She commented to her teacher, her fondness for leopard meat, but he ignored her comment and continued. All her life she knew of her importance to this dragon, and that she too was a Dragon like him. And she had promised an infinite number of times, that she would do whatever her Dragon provider requested. And so he picked her up onto his back, and flew down towards a small village far in the distance. Sure enough Harle had found Wazuki, hiding in the shadowy outskirts of Arni. Half of him wished to return, while the other half was repulsed by what he had allowed himself to become. Playing her part like a true performer Harle befriended the changing human, and proceeded to twist him in ways she alone desired. But indeed, he twisted her as well, and the relationship was far from anything desired by either one of them. Abuse was common, as were insults, and pain. But sometimes, on late nights when Lynx was weakened by the glow of the fire, Wazuki would come to the surface and talk to Harle. And she would listen for hours until the morning came. He would speak of Arni, and of Serge and his friends and family there. Sometimes he would moan horrible, inhuman moans, crying and weeping like a child. Harle would hold him, big as he was, and reassure him that everything was working out to the best, for everyone.   
And as she grew her body began to mature and change from it's childish phase into that of a young woman. She had questions then, on what was going on inside of her. A Dragon goddess should not experience such metamorphosis, right? She should be, whatever she wanted to be. And she was sure that this was not the way she wanted it to be. But no one could answer her questions, and she could only learn by going through it day by day. The part of a child was what she had learned to play. Manipulation came easy to her as a child. She could attain anything from anyone if she tried hard enough. But when strange chemicals began pumping through her blood, she found a much more pleasing side affect occurred. Men began to look at her, out of the corner of their eyes. She was no longer the forbidden child, but now she was the attainable teenaged budding flower. Her body drew some, as did her strange taste in clothes and dialect, but many came to her because of her spirit. And they would talk to her, and flirt and push, hoping for something they would never receive. Many wound up surprised at the intellect of the little woman, as her words cut many to ribbons. Others wound up physically wounded, or even dead, their hands becoming too eager. And so she had changed her part, to that of the girl on the verge of womanhood, the desire of any man with proper tastes. She wondered sometimes, if her spell had worked on Lynx as well. But he was too smart to show anything at all. He did not allow Harle to stay around him simply for her looks. Even he could not deny her skills and power in battle.   
Guilt was the first emotion Harle ever felt. It was one she had learned to live with, but she could never seem to deal with it completely. Love was the next. Lynx would bring her to Arni many times and they would hide in the treetops and look down on the peoples there. She fell in love with Serge those watchful years. Hate and anger were the next feelings felt. Her love could never be returned, and she hated humanity for presenting her with such a temptation. Sadness came after all of this, as her anger never escaped and simply festered into a depression that haunted her smile for years to come. That was the pallet of her emotions even as she sat on the beach. Everything else she ever felt was a lie, or a cheap imitation of one of those other feelings she had so easily defined. But now, as guilt condemned her without letting her alone even to rest, she struggled for someone to blame. Humanity had always been her scapegoat for every thing wrong in her life. But this crime she had committed, was it justified by the wrong done her? In either case, humanity was not the villain, she was. Was all of this her fault? All those people she killed, not just that evening but for her whole life, was she responsible for innocent blood being shed?   
She wished Black was with her. No! Harle clawed at her face in frustration. Instead, she forced herself to wish for Serge instead. Serge would understand all of this, better then Black ever could.   
"He didn't understand, when he attacked you while you were the Omni-Dragon, did he?" Harle heard her mind asking her.   
"Zhat iz not fair. He had to fight moi."   
"Not only did he fight you, with all of his friends by his side, he did not even hold back a moment, and try and figure a way to save you from the Omni-Dragon."   
"I did not want to be zaved! Zhe Omni-Dragon waz mon deztiny!"   
"Then why are you hear now, crying out for someone who would just as soon kill you then try and understand you."   
"No! Ztop it! Leave moi ALONE!" Harle stood up, clutching her ears and squeezing her eyes shut so that not a drop of light could come between them. It was time to move forward. Nothing would be accomplished on the beach that afternoon. 

  
The journey to Termina was a trip not long enough, for the confused but hopeful Harle. She was hopping to have more time to straighten her head out for her next meeting with Serge. But she had crossed the Barrier Mountains in just under three hours, and she had found an old fisherman willing to take her to Termina almost as soon as she arrived on the other side. They had agreed on a small sum of money in payment for her transport, but she didn't even plan to pay him. The petty greed of a small-time fishermen did not drive Harle to any deals she was willing to keep. Since she had finally dragged herself to her feet after the Porre ship was destroyed to the time she arrived at Termina only five or six hours had passed. She had forgotten how small El Nido felt. With her head mixed up so badly Harle decided to spend a few nights in Termina before heading straight to Arni. Serge was not going anywhere, after all. 

  
It was her second day in Termina. Harle lived off of what she could steal, trying to drown whatever she felt with even more negative feelings. Petty crimes had always worked before. They got her blood pumping and her mind sparking with anticipation of the pay-off, and whatever adventure that lay in between. But somehow it had lost its appeal. If was almost as easy to her now, as picking up loose change from the ground. But worse then that, the money felt dirty in her money pouch. That was a new and most unpleasant side-affect.   
Harle had been in town for a long time, longer then she had wanted to stay. To occupy her spare time between pilferings she would walk about the port casually, looking for Flint. She wanted to find out first hand how her little escapade at the hotel had finished. But if he was as unlucky as he seemed to be Flint was either dead or far away from Termina. After her wanderings became dreadfully boring Harle retreated to a back alley behind a building somewhere. It was dark and the sun did not heat up her constricting clothes as it had often done on long walks. And there she stayed, leaning against the back wall and starring down at her pointed shoes. A breeze, soft like a puff of a fairy's nostril crossed over Harle's face. Her nose, wriggled back and forth in the most peculiar manor, as if it had acquired its own life force. The breeze had a familiar scent upon it. Harle leaped up towards a tree branch in the ally, and sprang from the branch to the top of the two-story structure. Running easily across the roof she peeked down from the top of the building down below. It was Serge. He was not alone though. Was he ever alone? Leena and Radius were with him, she saw those two first. Like a little teenaged fan club they tailed behind, holding to his every word and wind. She was jealous. But there were others who were walking bestride Serge. To his left was a man who walked with military precision, his boots clicking the ground with vigor and force. His electric yellow hair moved very little even at his brisk pace. Serge referred to the man, as Norris. On the other side of Serge was an immense man. His skin was reddened and hard, for it had withstood the test of many a long day in front of the furnace. It seemed his body was as thick and rigid as the armor he produced. Harle recognized him, as Zappa the weapon smith.   
Their motions and actions were most curious to Harle. Sticking to the tree tops and the rooftops Harle remained with the group, high over their heads. Though she was curious as to how this group of people just so happened to find one another again and become so friendly, she also wanted to corner Serge when he was alone and uninfluenced by Leena and Radius. It would indeed be a long wait. For what seemed like hours the wayward group wandered the city without reason or direction. And like a ghostly guardian Harle was right there with them.   
For a long moment the group stopped on a main roadway of the city, and Harle perched herself atop a building two stories above them. Only bits of conversation seemed to waft towards the peeping tom above. Serge was difficult to see clearly from this height, and his words in particular were drifting to nothingness before they reached her. Without realizing what she was doing, Harle began to lean forward over the roof. She strained with every drop of her senses to hear Serge speak and to see his face. Her head continued to bend forward further, and further. Shingles began to crack and rattle loose as the odd strain was put on them. But Harle didn't notice. He was so close, she could reach out and touch his neck. She could wrap her arms around him and intertwine her fingers so he could never pry her loose. But in her dreams, he would never want to pry her loose, but would instead accept her and take her deep into his soul.   
"YeeeeEEEAAAAAAH!" Harle screeched as a particularly large shingle slipped out from under her foot and left her falling headfirst towards the ground. Her fall was not at all graceful, her arms and legs flailing about as if she was trying to flap her wings for the first time. Serge's eyes closed, and a small smile crossed his face. With great ease he turned about and held out his arms. Harle fell into them with unplanned perfection.   
"Ah! Bonjor mon ami!" Harle wrapped her arms around Serge's head but he shook her arms loose of him. "Zhat waz zhe mozt parfait catch, non?"   
"You." Zappa growled, pulling an oversized mallet out from behind his back. "Let 'er go boy! I'll crush 'er with one blow."   
"No." Serge responded, not releasing the light female, but holding on to her instead.   
"Serge!" Leena squealed in protest, whipping out a battered cooking pan. "Back away from her! She's dangerous!"   
"Ha! Jealouz?" Harle asked with a wink, and quickly pecked Serge on the cheek.   
"EWWW! YOOOU!!" Leena made a mad swing for Harle but Serge easily sidestepped and let Leena fall on her face from her own power.   
"Serge." Norris held his firearm level with Harle's forehead. "Do not be unreasonable. Back away from her."   
"Come Harle." Serge turned his back on Norris and all the others. "We have some things to discuss." As she walked away, still in Serge's arms Harle wiggled her hand in front of her nose, making an immature and reasonably annoying face. Leena ran at them again, but fell over a rock, smacking the ground a second time. This time she had the intelligence to stay there for a little while. 

  
"Do you remember this spot?" Serge asked as the two pairs of legs dangled over the side of the dock, waving back and forth above the waters below them.   
"Oui." Harle responded looking out to the endless ocean. It turned and moved with a life of its own. The skin of the ocean sparkled under the noon sun, and proclaimed for itself, a voiceless beauty.   
"I was, not quite myself then." Serge stated, as he reminisced. "We came here once or twice the first evening that we arrived here in Termina. And we talked." Serge chuckled to himself. "Well, actually, I did most of the talking. But you sat there, right were you are sitting, and listened to me as if you had listened to me every day of your life."   
"Oui." Harle could add nothing to such a memory. It was still fresh in her mind. Serge had just arrived in Home World, after copping with death and his journey through the paradoxical spirit plane. Finding himself in Lynx's body, with his friends once again gone, Serge felt vulnerable and needed to talk with someone. Harle was the only one who wanted to listen, and so he talked to her. Though her face, her voice, her words may have been cold or humorous, her ears never forgot a word spoken. "What haz happened to your memoriez? Zhey are back." And that was when the reality of such a statement truly weighed on her mind. The last time she and he had met while they were both in their right minds, they were enemies.   
"It is a long, and pointless story." Serge responded. For some time the two sat in silence. Memories passed between them without words. Their spirits connected on a level of camaraderie that could only be forged in the face of adversity. But the sting of betrayal was felt by both at once. "That day, you told me you wanted me to stay as Lynx. You told me that I was now perfect, a whole being. And you tried to philosophize me into believing I was Lynx."   
"I waz..." Harle thought hard for the words to say. "I wanted zomething, I could never have. I wanted zhe familiar face and great power of Lynx, with zhe pure zoul of... with your pure zoul inztead."   
"That was unkind, and selfish."   
"I know."   
"Do you remember what else, that we talked about? You made me a promise that I still remember." Serge's words seemed like some distant nightmarish dream that had somehow come true despite everything that should have prevented it. Whatever had caused Serge to relapse into his memories made Harle very sad... and very happy.   
"Oui. I remember zhe promize."   
"You promised you would give me the best that I deserved even if it meant sacrifice. It's time Harle. I want to collect on this promise." Serge had left out much of the promise, and had focused on the one point he desired to make. But Harle did not correct him. Suddenly the other portions of the promise were empty and meaningless.   
"How?"   
"I love Leena. Leave us be." Serge's words were ominous and they crushed her soul with all the efficiency of death, but twice the torment. Serge climbed to his feet slowly, patting Harle's head with one last touch of affection. "And there is something I've been wanting to say to you, for a long time, but I never got the chance." Serge waited for a response but Harle gave him none. She could not speak, her eyes burned and her throat had closed up completely. "Goodbye Harle the harlequin. I think you deserve that much, at least." Serge crept away from the ailing jesteress. He would never see her again privately like this. Even for him, this hurt deeply. But for the sake of his marriage and due to the burning passions of his friends he could not keep ties with Harle forever.   
"Ourevoir, mon amour."   
For months and even years after this conversation Harle would often wonder at Serge's words. It would be a rare occurrence for her to look upon him, or even think about him without shedding an angry tear. She would ask herself over and over, what she had done to deserve such harsh words. Many times she had imagined a conversation similar to this one... a "good-bye" conversation of sorts. But it had never occurred with such one sided ferocity as Serge had displayed. Only when she was much older, and after she had successfully navigated her teenage years, would she understand that it could not have been any other way. She loved him too much, to separate herself of her own will. Only a forceful push would send her properly on her way. All of this reasoning though, had yet to come about. Hurt, anger, and sadness on the verge of depression was all that was left for her. And the lonely black harlequin waiting far away.   
The jewel on Harle's neck flashed once, or so she thought. Picking it up and examining it, it seemed to be as dead as it had been the last few days. It had not flashed since she had left the woods surrounding the village Geal. But before she could rationalize away any reason for its activity, or go back to her mourning, the ground rumbled and began to quake. The little jesteress slipped off of the dock, but managed to grab on to the edge and pull herself upright again. Shouts and screams of fear began to fill the streets. What could be causing such a commotion in Termina? Her question was quickly answered. The two forms, of two great dragons, spun about high above the city raining blasts of pure elemental power onto the innocent citizens. It seemed two of the Dragon gods had lay siege to Termina in a plan of revenge against the humans that had doomed them to their fate. But Serge was here, and he had his memories and his friends. Little did the two Dragon gods realize how unlucky they actually were.   
What reason had the Dragon gods to attack this undefended port city? It was a small pearl in a grand sea of humanity. For such great creatures it hardly seemed worth the effort. But even as Harle ran towards the city, she could see it was no mistake. Yellow Dragon was barreling about knocking buildings to the ground with his blunt, roundish head. Red Dragon circled high above, in his ultimate form and he breathed fire onto the frightened masses. Even as Harle stood in an alleyway, looking onto the destruction the Yellow Dragon tore past her. His speed sucked even the air around him, tugging on Harle's clothing as he rammed into a bait and tackle shop.   
"Yellow Dragon god!" Harle leapt high into the air, landing with her legs around the god's neck. "What are you doing?! Why iz it you attack?"   
"Harle Child?" The Yellow Dragon slowed to a crawl and tried to turn his head to sniff at the weight on his neck. "I thought you were dead! I thought Spirit got you too!"   
"Don't worry mon ami! I am fine!" Physically at least. "Sil vous plait! Stop zhis pointlezz act!"   
"But..." Before the Yellow Dragon could answer, red Dragon swooped from the clouds and roughly plucked Harle from the Yellow Dragon's neck. Holding her close to his chest, his musculature crushing her tiny frame, he beat his wings several times and rocketed skyward.   
"Greetings little harlequin. How delightful to see you again." Red Dragon did not seem at all pleased, contrary to his words.   
"What are you...AH!... doing to moi!?" Indeed, her body was being crumpled together, every squeeze causing a shout of pain to escape Harle's reddened lips.   
"Yellow Dragon is a precious ally, we cannot have you start popping silly ideas into his head, can we?"   
"Why are you attacking zhe humanz here?"   
"They all will pay, for what we have suffered. Two of us are lost, and gone, and even the White Dragon is too afraid to act on his own anymore. We have to show this human, Spirit, that we are not to be trifled with."   
"Zhen why are you...AH!... CRUSHING MOI?!" Bones strained to retain Harle's form, and would soon crack.   
"We have seen your actions. You are becoming more human everyday. Besides Spirit you are the only other that could possibly destroy us, if you willed to. Before you become too sympathetic with those heads of cattle down there, we have to eliminate you. To aide our cause, some sacrifices must be made!" And suddenly his arms gave out from under her, and she began to hurtle downwards towards the city below. Her draconic power was completely gone, all but her most basic agilities and her sense of smell. She could not fly anymore, or even phase shift. This drop... was going to kill her. But at that point, she didn't even scream. Death was an action she may have executed on herself, eventually.   
"Don't be in such a hurry to die, young one." And a black shadow flew below her, catching her in mid-flight on his bent and mighty back. It was the Black Dragon god himself.   
"Black Dragon?" Harle hugged his neck tightly. "Ah! You are mon hero!" Of course, he didn't answer, but Harle never expected words from the sullen monster she rode upon. Speaking was not something he enjoyed.   
"What senseless destruction. We are becoming as stupid as the cow beasts." The response was surprising, since he had never spoken so many words to her in all of his life. Black Dragon's voice was deep and it vibrated his whole body when he spoke. With a single light flap of his wings he landed on the outskirts of Termina, and let the young harlequin slide off of him, and onto the ground.   
"You only honor, those who can kill you." Black Dragon spun about, smashing his horned head straight into the Red Dragon's own head. Both flew backwards with the powerful blow. "Then honor the humans, for their youngest of souls defeated us at our peak of power."   
"ENOUGH!" Red Dragon gathered up his energies and belched forth a mighty Omega Red. The infinite Hell fire spread like a ring across the heavens, burning the clouds. Black Dragon wrapped himself tightly in his wings, blasting through the power. With a single skilled action he unfurled his wings again, and caught the air.   
"Stop this nonsense." Black Dragon urged. "We have much bigger problems, then picking on a tiny port city."   
"What? Like Spirit!? You want to just hide in the mountains! We are Dragon gods! WE DO NOT HIDE!" The Red Dragon was completely panicked. Spirit scared him more then anything had ever scared him. For Spirit was screaming death, with no face, that sprang from nowhere and killed Dragon gods with a single stab.   
Red Dragon hovered nervously about the sky, testing Black Dragon who was in flight just across from him. To cease his attacks on Black Dragon, and the city below would be to admit his wrong doings and his weakness. But to continue fighting, would drive a wedge between the already failing camaraderie of dragons. Closing his wings about his arms for a moment the Red Dragon summoned his innate elemental power. He threw out his wings and numerous balls of fire fell to the ground, a few impacting harmlessly on Black Dragons thick hide.   
"You are making a mistake. Look down there." Black spun about and gestured with a nod towards where Yellow Dragon was supposed to be demolishing buildings. Instead, a young blue haired boy with a swoop weapon confronted the immense Yellow Dragon, and he was accompanied by several painfully familiar fighters.   
"No! Of all the settlements in all of Termina... he had to be HERE!" Red Dragon recognized Serge instantly, and dove to assist his yellow friend.   
"Not so fast." Black Dragon rammed the Red Dragon from his flight path, with his horned attack.   
"Get out of my way!" Red Dragon grasped the Black Dragon by the tail, and threw him far into the blue distance. Gathering all the power of his Omega Red into his throat Red Dragon again charged straight towards the human boy. "You aren't going to be so lucky this time SERGE!" And he released a blast of fire so hot, the sun itself gasped in astonishment. The air rushed about around the pillar of fire, as the oxygen was consumed at an instantaneous rate. As it flew across the sky, the fires turned blue, and then white with the heat and power gathered up in it.   
"Serge! Move! Get out of the way!" Leena shouted, waving her hands back and forth wildly. But Serge paid her no mind.   
"Come on boy!" Zappa prepared to lift Serge from the ground and carry him. He thought that perhaps the young warrior was stunned to see such power. But before he could take a step towards Serge held up a restraining hand. Touching a white element on the very end of his grid, Serge gathered up his resolve for this draining magic. A white ball of energy trickled from the ground in front of him. All at once it was surrounded with veins of white and blue energies as the tiny ball absorbed inside itself celestial power that could not be controlled or fathomed. Just before the Omega Red spell impacted the Ultra Nova completed its cycle, and it prepared to exploded. Serge exercised his extreme will over the elements, using the power of his own spirit to concentrate the blast into a sparkling upheaval. The two powers met in mid flight, and with ease the Ultra Nova sliced through the stream of white hot fire, and impacted against the Red Dragons sensitive nostrils.   
"No!" The Yellow Dragon cast a weaker element, causing squares of earth to tear free from the ground, and drop heavily onto his opponents. One portion moved to fall on top of Leena, but she dodged quickly and nimbly. Norris was targeted, and equally dodged. But Zappa stood his ground, holding his hammer high above his head as the compressed earth began to fall. When the dust settled only a pile of rock remained. Suddenly the rocks moved and Zappa emerged, unharmed, from the rubble. His utter resolve had saved him.   
"Red Dragon!" Black Dragon shouted as he finally made it back to the battle theatre. "Stop this!" Just before the Black Dragon impacted against Red Dragon, a shriek of pure power cut through the sky. It seemed the atmosphere shook and bent with such a cry, and the air channeled about in odd directions. Everyone stopped fighting, and the citizens for a moment, stopped trembling and hiding. A winged creature, with the sky at his command, rode his own air currents and made his way towards the battle. With an earth crushing landing, the White Dragon rose his head upwards to the heavens, and screamed one final echoing call. Everything was silent, before the leader of the Dragon gods. He stood directly between Serge and Yellow dragon, facing both but neither at the same time.   
"White Dragon!" Yellow Dragon stepped back in submission.   
"Ha! Now you will see!" Red Dragon said to Black Dragon as the two flew down to meet the new comer.   
"Brother." Black Dragon bowed his head slightly in respect, after he landed before the majestic sky dragon.   
"My brother, it is good to see you again after so long a time has passed." White Dragon nodded to his kinsman the Black Dragon. "Red Dragon, and Yellow Dragon, what is the meaning of this attack? I did not order any of such violence."   
"But White Dragon! We are here to destroy the humans, that is our main purpose for existing in this time! I am only doing what I am supposed to do!" The Red Dragon responded, his voice laced with confusion emphasized by a high pitched tone.   
"Hmm. I see." White Dragon turned, and leaned his head very close to Serge's. His breath smelt of fresh air, only felt at thousands of feet up in the atmosphere. "Serge, it has been a long time since we have met in battle, has it not?"   
"It has." Serge replied, lowering his defensive stance just slightly. "Why have you come here? Why have all of you come here? You are hardly in any position anymore, to be pressing your goals of genocide. We have defeated you once, and have proven we can do it again."   
"Serge, human with an exemplary spirit, my friends are confused and they are lost in a delusion they have yet to give up." The White Dragon explained. "A great deal has changed since we have met child." Harle crept up to the scene, moving slowly as not to draw the wrath of the tensions developing. "It is good to see you are well Harle."   
"You too." Harle smiled, pushing off the glances received.   
"It is time we left this city to its own devices." White commented to those under his authority.   
"This is not finished yet." Serge swung his weapon about to bring the point inches from the White Dragon's moist snout. Standing there, the dragon only waited. His breaths came with giant easy heaves pushing moist air over Serge, and the others. Finally, after having starred into Serge for some time the White Dragon turned, and slumped forward, bending his knees as he prepared to leap.   
"Boy!" Zappa shouted, brandishing his hammer. "Do it now!"   
Serge let his swoop clatter to the ground, and just as it struck the pavement winds swept about the Sky Beast and ushered him to his heavenward home. With screeches of agony and wounded pride the others came up after their master.   
"What did you do that for?" Leena ran up and smacked Serge squarely on the back of his head. "You let them get away."   
But Serge could not respond. Something deep in the Dragon's eyes had forced the human to, if even for a moment, reconsider the bloody path before him. Before the rage, without focus, turned onto Harle she evaporated into the scenery. No one saw her creep away from the site of the battle, and she was glad of that. For Serge had a long stint of explanations to give, explanations Harle already knew by heart. Words would not solve the problems alone. But such politics did not concern her anymore. When Serge had severed the links between Harle and himself, he had in turn severed the links between Harle and all of El Nido. No one cared for her in El Nido. The Dragon gods looked after her, true enough. But she was little more then a pawn to them. Perhaps it was time to fulfill the promise made to Black Harlequin. She thought when she arrived in El Nido she would never leave. But it was clear now, the only one who cared of her even a little bit was half a world away. 

  


© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	11. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 10

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 10 - "The Little Lost Lamb, the end of Part I" -=- 

  
It was night, but Harle's figure could not be mistaken by any of the people who watched her so carefully. The village had not expected to see Harle again. That was painfully apparent as she stepped through the quiet village streets. Silent questions formed on the lips of the citizens of Geal. The great magic at work in their city was supposed to make it impossible for Harle to ever find Geal ever again. But here she was, somehow, walking through the familiar roads and past the familiar buildings. Kimjuku watched silently for some time. Upon her face was a half smile, and her eyes radiated with wonder and mischief. Oh how the villagers would talk about this, she guessed. How had the little harlequin meandered back to this hidden city? And without any help from the guards and the warriors.   
"It is good to see you again Harle." Kimmie fell directly in stride with the harlequin. Though the village seemed to have lost it's tongue, she would not be so rude to Harle.   
"Oui, you too." Harle conceded quickly. But she did not return all the way here for Kimjuku. Trying to be discreet, Harle's eyes darted back and forth across the entire village as she walked.   
"He is in his quarters." Kimjuku was utterly pleased with herself, for guessing Harle's mood. Matchmaking and love like this did not blossom much in such a dry and perfect village. It was exciting to be a part of it. "He has missed you terribly, since you have left." Kimmie decided to make Harle very happy she had returned to Geal. "He hunts with the men, and plays with the children of course, and he laughs allot and plays annoying jokes on people, but we all can see that he is not really that happy here. I'm sure he wondered, if you were ever coming back at all."   
"It haz only been a week or zo." Harle reminded the girl. But with every word Kimjuku spoke Harle found herself moving a little faster. She wished Kimmie would skip the pleasant conversation and go straight to the part where she reveals where Black was hiding. "But..."   
"There." Kimjuku stopped, and pointed to a small doorway cut in the midst of a grand building. It was most likely a place where many men and women who did not have families lived in groups. Black's room was ablaze with a dancing fire, and the orange glow inked across the ground, like an inviting carpet to lead Harle inwards to the light. She followed alone. Kimjuku new better then to intrude on this meaningful reunion.   
He was sitting cross-legged in front of the fire. The silver bells on his coxcomb captured most of the fire light, glinting like three blazing eyes in the glowing room. As she approached, all she could see was his back, and the back of his head. His legs were folded in front of him, as he sat just a foot or two from the fire. Harle let her eyes wander, not with curiosity but wonder. To be back here, was difficult to believe. When she had left, never returning had crossed her mind more then once. And the need ached once inside of her, pushing her soul up against her ribcage.   
"Bonjor mon ami." Harle let the middle of her 'bonjor' roll off of her tongue as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She leaned on his back affectionately, as her arms draped loosely around his neck and shoulders.   
"Hello." Black responded with equal emotion. She was not holding him tightly, and he did not like her loose grip. He wanted her to hold on to him with tightness and ferocity. But she did not need love right now, only a friend. Serge must have given her a deep searing wound. And Black nodded to himself. He would always be up ahead, waiting for Harle to make her way to where he wanted her to be.   
For a long time the two just sat there. Their bodies were comfortably close, where even their breathes could be felt one to another. No words were exchanged. Black new that if Harle returned like this, that she had been rejected. Harle new that he knew. And there was nothing left between them. Suddenly it became too great for her, and a tear slid down her face and onto Black's neck. Feeling the moisture Black finally turned to her. His eyes were still that same silver that always chilled her. Wrapping his arms tightly around her he drew her head to his shoulder. And she wept. She had never cried so hard, and so emotionally in all of her life. Her frame jumped as she sobbed. Though her eyes were closed now the tears still pushed through. Each clear trickle, was a drop of her own blood. Serge, and the I.P.S. Trojan Horse, all weighed heavily upon her. And she could not bear the weight alone any longer.   
"Look." Black touched a finger to her chin, drawing her head gently from him for only a moment. With that same finger he traced a path down her neck and her chest, to the blue gem she had resting just in front of her stomach. It pulsed and glowed in and out with a soft white light. That pulsing gem had been what had guided Harle back there, to Geal, in the first place. But its seemed to glow even brighter then it had when she had first arrived. "And look, at this." Black lifted his frontward pouch, ornately sewn with black and silver threads. In the pouches very center was a gem cut similar to Harle's but black in color. With the same soothing motions as Harle's own gem his beat in and out as well. "These are called Heart Gems. Whenever we are near each other, and thinking about each other, they glow like this. The further we are away, the less they glow." Harle extend a single slender finger, that she fan across Black's gem. And she felt the tears welling up again. But now there was someone to comfort those aches, and to cradle her broken spirit. 

  
"Zhat iz not fair." Harle mumbled to herself. She was hiding behind a broken down wall, peeking through a small hole to a scene in the grass covered walkway beyond. There was a baker, wheeling about a cart full of pies. He walked them about everyday, so Harle had heard, to cool the pies just right. But no one was to taste them until dinner that evening. But dinner was so long away! Breakfast had barley settled in her stomach just yet.   
"What are you looking at?" Black asked, interested in Harle's frustration.   
"Ah... er..." Harle spun about and covered the hole with her own head. "Nozhing! What are you doing here? Aren't you zupposed to be hunting, or doing zome zort of manly zhing now?"   
"You want some pie, don't you?" Black rose a lone eyebrow up with intrigue. "You won't be able to get some alone, maybe we can come to some sort of agreement?"   
"Agreement?" Harle asked, with a sarcastic tone of mistrust. "What agreement?"   
"Share the pie, and I'll help you out." Black stuck out a rigid hand. "Deal?"   
"Why not?" Harle shook his black glove firmly.   
"Then follow my lead." And Black ran out from behind the wall, running past the pie cart with such speed it took Harle a moment to register that he had even stolen the pie. But the baker was much more sensitive to his wares, and quickly spotted the retreating Black.   
"Hey! Come back here with that!" The baker abandoned his cart and bolted towards the fleeing youthful Black. With the words that he said sometimes, it was difficult for Harle to imagine him to be only eight-teen years old. But his silver eyes still held much youth.   
"Harle!" Black shouted, and launched the pie high into the air. Harle caught on instantly. With a single bound she was on the top of the ruined wall, and with another burst of effort she was airborne and on her way to meet the flying pie. Her catch was graceful and she barley even shook the pie in it's cooking plate. Blueberries tickled her nose as she flipped and landed softly on the ground. Suddenly several adults, rallying with the baker appeared and nearly tore Harle's prize away from her. But she was too fast, and her legs propelled her nearly halfway across the village in just a few moments.   
"Black!" She threw the pie upwards, just as the baker himself rounded a corner and began to pounce on her. The pie escaped her hand and twirled about like a Frisbee high over Blacks head. With one fluid motion Black jumped onto a nearby wall and used it as a springboard to leap higher up onto the next wall. Jumping from the next wall high into the air he caught the wayward culinary treat and slid to a rough halt on the top of another structure. Taking to the roof tops it became quite a chore to slow the clown boy. The laughter of both Harle and Black rang out across the village with a childish ominous sound. Running out of roof Black leapt the single story leap back onto the ground and continued his mad dash. Shouts from numerous people caused him to run even faster, for they did not sound as though they were enjoying themselves as much as he was.   
"Harle! Catch this one!" And Black flung the pie as hard as he could towards her. There was a long dinning table between the two, and it was currently being used by several warriors who had just made it back from patrol. The pie lost altitude and began skidding forcefully across the table, throwing silverware, cups and wooden bowls randomly about. Breakfast stews splattered on all of the warriors, as they made a quick but useless attempt to escape the coming doom of the runaway pie. Harle opened her hands to catch it, but just before it landed in her hands the baker came out of nowhere again and tackled her to the ground. Hitting a bump, the pie hopped off the table and flew filling first right into Kimjuku's face. It hit her with such force the blue filling erupted out from behind her, and the cooking tin held an imprint of her nose and face. Tearing it free Kimjuku began to shout.   
"JUKU! GET OVER HERE!" She stomped her foot with anger as she continued her screaming calls. Harle's eyes opened wide. She never thought the soft-spoken Kimmie could yell with such force!   
"What is the matter? Ha! Why sister you are covered in pie!" Juku chuckled to himself, his soft voice not at all soothing to the infuriated Kimmie.   
"Brother! Your guests are misbehaving! I thought you are supposed to be keeping an eye on them!" With an angry huff she threw the bent tin onto the ground, stamping on it with her foot.   
"I zhink you made a miztake, non?" Harle whispered to Black as the majority of the village assembled around them.   
"Me?! You wanted the pie in the first place!"   
"Iz it mon fault if you throw like zhe little girl, hmm?" Harle asked back with a daring smile. 

  
"I hope you aren't leaving because of this afternoon." Juku stood with Harle and Black at the very edge of Geal. This time, the good bye was not lonely. For both jesters were leaving together.   
"No, never." Black smiled a pleased smile.   
"Kimmie will calm down, and the baker had many pies in his cart. Besides, a little youthful vigor is a breath of fresh air into this village." Juku reassured them, if they needed any reassurance at all.   
"Your village is beautiful, but it is perhaps a bit too perfect for my friend Harle." Black poked Harle in the ribs with a stiff finger and she giggled a response.   
"Then all is left is our goodbyes." Juku thrust forth a strong hand, forged in the forests. Black took it and shook once. Harle pecked Juku on the nose with her tiny lips, and he blushed a little with embarrassment. "Remember my friends, the Hands of the Forest are always all around you. If you are ever in Teodorrin and you find yourself in trouble in the woods, we will help you."   
"Hey Juku!" A slender warrior in his mid twenties came walking up to the little group holding a slice of raw meat on a stick. "You think Lamby will like this?"   
"Please Teek, I am saying good bye to my guests. Wait till later." Juku waved his friend away.   
"Who is Lamby?" Black asked, looking at the large slab of meat. "A pet?"   
"Something like that." Juku sighed a contented sigh. "Its a girl we used to call the Little Lost Lamb. One of the children of the village called her Lamby and the name just stuck. She appeared about a day after you left Harle."   
"Why iz she not in zhe village?" Harle would have instantly seen any travelers in the village. The villagers all dressed the same and anyone new would stand out quite obviously.   
"She's a bit too angry and spirited to come in the village. I don't think she even wants our help. But we leave her scraps of food and such as she wanders about the forest looking for something." Juku laughed heartily, holding his bare stomach with one of his hands. "She gets so angry when she finds food on her lap when she wakes up from a nap, and she doesn't know who left it for her. It is cute the way she tries to wait up and see who is leaving her the meats and breads but she can never make it."   
"Would you like to take her, her meat today?" Teek, Juku's friend offered the meat on the pointed stick to Black Harlequin. "She's just a few yards past the village near a big oak tree."   
"It is great fun." Juku goaded.   
"Fine fine." Black took the large piece of meat from Teek with a confused smile.   
"Well then, I guess this really is good bye. I hope we meet again, though I don't think we ever will." Juku said his last good bye and Harle and Black turned to leave. The magic covering of the city parted a moment and they stepped through out into the all seeing forest. With a few ripples across the magical surface the fold was gone, and so was Geal. Harle turned about and looked back to where the village should have been. And she wondered if she ran back towards it, if her hands would dip back into the cities magic covering. But no, the city was completely gone. It had been taken back to whatever plane had first owned it.   
"Come on Harle!" Black called. He was already walking towards the large oak tree further down the forest. The raw meat was beginning to drip onto his gloves and that was a prospect he did not wish to dwell upon very long. "I think this meat is starting to rot!"   
"Oui oui. I am coming." Harle tore herself away from Geal. It was there when she needed it, but she could not stay forever. For several moments the pair walked in silence. Harle looked up on occasion to Black Harlequin. Though he was taller then her, his frame was agile and slender and he filled his costume about as much as Harle filled hers, if she was a few inches taller of course. She smiled when she looked at him. Never had she guessed that Black could get them both in trouble with the pie. With his soothing and calculated words sometimes Harle wondered if he could do something stupid. But perhaps he was allot more human that she had made him out to be. And that aspect of Black, made him all the more attractive.   
"Non!" Harle gasped, as Lamby came into view. Her back was to Harle but her form was unmistakable. The short cut shirt, her scorpion tail styled red hair, those slender arms and that familiar dagger all could belong to but one person.   
"Oi! Bloody back." Kidd stretched, lifting her arms skyward and cracking her spine. Sleeping on stones in the forest had a way of bending her spine in all the wrong ways.   
"Heh, of course. She must have followed our trail here." Black replied to the situation. He and Harle were both safely hidden away, viewing Kidd from amidst some brush. Kidd was not terribly observant, so it seemed, and she did not even notice the tinkling of the two sets of bells.   
"Juzt throw zhe meet and letz go!" Harle whispered with a raspy angry tone into Blacks ear.   
"Oh, but that isn't very much fun." Black stood bolt upright. Kidd spun about, drawing her dagger instantly in one hand, and a Fire Pillar in the other.   
"What the devil are you supposed to be?" Kidd didn't relax, even for a moment. She had almost killed the boy, since he looked for a moment to be just like Harle.   
"I have heard allot about you Kidd." Black toyed with her mind, waving the meat about in front of her.   
"You've been the one dropping the meet in m' lap eh?"   
"Not me, some friends of mine." Black replied with a sly grin. "Would you like to meet one?"   
"You're a bloody freak!" Kidd spit on the ground, to punctuate her remark.   
"Oh yes? What do you think Harle?" And with one stiff tug Black lifted Harle to her feet.   
"Bloody HELL! You're multiplyin'!" And Kidd charged forward towards them, no questions asked. She had spent far too long searching, and far too long being lost, to let Harle slip away from this all to convenient meeting. Who her new little boy friend was, was of no concern to Kidd whatsoever.   
"Black! What are you doing?" Harle shouted out after Black. As soon as Kidd had charged them, Black had turned tail and he began running away!   
"Run!" He shouted back to her, his voice not at all taxed by his exertion. He could have been running allot faster, but was instead waiting for Harle to come to her senses and follow. She leapt backwards just as Kidd slashed where she had once stood, cutting a large gash in a tree.   
"Why did you do zhat?!" Harle was already next to Black. She could run fast too.   
"Come on now. You need her as much as she needs you. It is a strange friendship you two have." Black laughed, and suddenly put on a burst of speed.   
"You are crazy." Harle shook her head in complete disbelief. "Where are we going now, mon ami?"   
"Somewhere far from here." Black looked to the sun, peeking through the holes in the forest canopy. "I'll let you know when we get there." 

-=- Part 1: End -=- 

  
© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	12. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 11

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Part 2 : The Coming of Black -=- 

_Soon after all of this, Black took control of the pair. In the few days that Harle was gone to El Nido he had researched the village of Euore in the libraries of Geal. Amazingly they had a geographical listing under Euore. But the listing was terribly out of date and still had Euore listed as an active and inhabited human settlement. There existed no record of the destruction of Euore anywhere in any atlas of book. From the outdated atlas information Black Harlequin gleaned a few facts about the deserted village. He learned of a town far to the East of Euore called Nunia. Nunia was the only other settlement to ever trade with Euore despite the long distance between. Perhaps there was something there that would hint as to the cause of death for the village Euore. _

As Black calculated their methods for survival and their paths of travel Harle concentrated on something else entirely. She meditated on the emotions she felt. To her they felt wonderful, and terrible. Never had she been so alive, so human. Though she could feel a rainbow of feelings, the exact emotions still eluded her. She did not love Black. She cared for him, and loved him but she was not in love as the humans defined it. At first he was just a hug. He was just a warm body to cry to. But suddenly she began to feel the arms, hugging her back. And this confused her more. What of Black? Was it possible for him to be in love with her? How could this be, since they hardly knew one another? Or perhaps Black new her from another place? Who was this man, called Black Harlequin? 

  
  
-=- Chapter 11 - "Little Dragon Learns a Human Lesson" -=- 

  
He looked as though he was thrown up out of the gut of a giant fish. The gigantic pouch of human flesh sat on a stool that shook with inadequate support but as the beer filled his cheeks he hardly noticed. Stink rose out of him, in various delectable bouquets of human stench. A scarce remnant of a white shirt struggled and fought to cover his gelatinous frame. Stained from a thousand days of wear, the shirt had broken in several places, leaving little patches of flesh and hair. The tavern conformed to the man, offering little else besides a dusty gray floor and dusty gray walls and a dusty gray bar keeper. Several bottles of finer and stronger drinks were lined up in little rows behind the bar keep. Off to the corner stood several vats of ale and wine and bear, a much more common drink to be requested. Though many other equally savory examples of humanity littered the bar, this one in particular caught the interest of the enigmatic jester and his jesteress.   
"You sir, look as though you have lived here some time." Black began his dance of words.   
"Wha-? Another circus freak?" With a loud belch the man turned a single slimy eye towards Black.   
"Charming." Harle whispered discreetly into the back of Black's ear.   
"I just had a question for you." Black continued.   
"Go and play somewheres else kid. This is a man's bar."   
Harle's eyes suddenly shot downward to the fat mans belt. An overstuffed leather pouch, simply sweating gold coins, clung loosely to a loop of his pants. With the flick of the wrist, Harle drew a single throwing card, and she began to work her way slowly around to the side of the money pouch.   
"Please, all I want to know is if you've heard of a small village called Euore perhaps?" Black asked. He sensed Harle move away from him, but he didn't take his eyes off of the living blemish.   
"Euore? Never heard of it." And he spat a large dripple of bear and saliva (far short of the spittoon in the corner).   
With the softness of a field flower Harle cut a small slit into the money bag using her card. Gold coins began to spill out into her open hand in small groups of two and three. Even though by now Black had caught on to her little game he didn't say much of anything. He had little chance, for as soon as the last coin hit the center of her palm she was already outside in the open air.   
"Well thank you sir, for your time." Black turned his back to the bar and pushed off towards the door.   
"Yeah yeah." The man had hardly noticed Black and Harle, despite how much time they had just spent together.   
Black stepped out of the door and began to walk, and Harle was immediately by his side. She had been resting her back against the doorframe, but had joined him when she saw his familiar black. For several moments the two walked in perfect stride, and in perfect silence. Harle wanted to see how Black would react to such an act of thievery, while Black wanted to hear what Harle had to say about it. And so they both waited for each other's responses. In mid stride Harle came to a stop. She stood in front of a lonely street performer strumming his guitar in the most melancholy of ways. Black did not stop so soon, and he had to walk back a step to remain next to Harle.   
"Harle, about the money..." Before Black could finish Harle dropped the whole fist full of gold right into the street performers cup. The act of charity was unexpected to say the least, but Black beamed a large smile towards her. Her face curled into a grin, and she turned away from her dark friend with a shrug. She stepped quickly from the street performer, and Black jumped beside her, noticing her cheeks becoming warm. "Now why did you go and throw away our dinner money like that?" Black asked with a lighthearted expression on his face.   
"It zeemed like zhe human thing to do, non?" Harle replied back with a slightly more serious tone.   
"Human? That was a rare action, even for a human." Black conceded.   
Harle traced her hand along the gray stone walls that towered along every street, and that crawled up the side of every building. Towers, collapsing with age spotted the horizon above shops and peoples, but built directly into the city walls. Constructed in layers, Harle tilted her head back to see shops at the tops of long flights of unforgiving stone stairs. Once, long ago, Nunia had been a castle of enormous size. Now, it was a city in the center of a flourishing trade route. And the two worlds had trouble meeting one another in decoration. Hills rippled out from the castle in green waves, while the blue spikes of mountains seemed to surround the castle in all directions far in the distance.   
"I have decided zhat, like it or not, I am becoming more human everyday." Harle pointed out, matter-of-factly. She was trying to make small talk, and besides that, this was a topic she had on her mind for some time.   
"Why human? We are such a dirty and despicable race." Black commented with cold realism. "There are wars for fun, wars for profit, corruption, greed, murder... to name a few things from the list."   
"Humanz are not juzt zhat. Zhere iz zomething... beautiful about humanz. It iz zomething I cannot put mon finger on, juzt yet." Harle waved her single index finger about in front of her to illustrate her point. The music of the circus in the distance tumbled over the city and into Harle's ears. Such music was a covering for them. For with it came the circus itself. And whereas Harle was used to receiving raised eyebrows and passing comments, now she was left alone. Some would even smile to her, believing her to be a clown they had spotted near the big-top.   
"Here we are." Black starred upwards triumphantly at the hotel laid out before them. It had been a tavern once before, perhaps a long time ago. Since then it had dried up, to become only a small inn for passing travelers. To those that had slept on sticks and rocks for days upon days, such an inn screamed out a siren's song. For past the single sofa lobby, and up beyond the wooden counter and the rows of keys, and a single golden bell, rooms and rooms of soft mattresses awaited them. "It is the only hotel in this whole city. I'm surprised at how big it is." Black looked up to the fourth floor. What crowds could possibly come all the way out here, to fill up such a place.   
"How will you pay for all zhis?" Harle asked, equally astonished at the size.   
"The same way you would. I just won't drop my money in every street performers lap." Black poked her in the ribs and she grabbed him, squeezing him in a playful grab. Letting her feet grow limp Black had to pull her, feet dragging, inside the hotel.   
"We need a room." Black stated with a bright smile.   
"Obviously you do." Looking up from behind a pair of glassless, pinched on the end of his nose, the man could only sigh. The man eyed the young Harle, with her arms still firmly wrapped around Black's waist.   
"Aww, come on." Black laughed a little as he peeled Harle off of him, and turned his attention back to the sarcastic inn keeper. "Yeah, we do."   
"A honeymoon suite?" The man asked with a serious and rounded face, red with an overabundance of blood flow.   
"Oh-la-la!" Harle giggled from behind Black but he just swatted her away.   
"No, just two separate tiny rooms."   
"Why? I don't bite... very hard." And Harle bit him gently on his ear, receiving another push back, bouncing onto her rear.   
"Two rooms." Black replied instantly.   
"We only have one room left." Hidden beneath his hard face, lay only further hardness. Amusement escaped the inn-keeper.   
"One room? There aren't even a hundred people in this whole little city and your hotel has only one room left?" Black asked, stepping back, brining two fingers to pinch his chin and letting a single eyebrow raise.   
"One room. Take it or leave it." Even if another empty room existed, the inn-keeper kept it well hidden under his skin.   
"Take it." Black held out his hand for the key. "Of course."   
"Don't worry." The inn keeper finally said something out of character. "There are two beds in there, unless you two are getting a bit too frisky."   
"Funny." Black grabbed the key from the innkeeper with a half smile and walked towards the stair way. 

  
His eyes filled with soft feathery mattress, Black hardly noticed how the walls nearly touched the ends of the beds on all sides. Everything seemed to be brown and tan in the hotel. Even the bed linens turned the pillows into dull potatoes. On either side of the room two unlit oil lamps stood ready. When the night came they would make the room bright and livable. Breathing breezes in and out, a window sat above a small table. The wood floor creaked even under the tiny weight of Harle. And she would stop, pushing her food up and down against a loose board, and the creaking became louder and louder.   
"Well, now that we've got the room, lets go and get some money to pay for all of it." Black gestured for Harle to follow.   
"Oui, I zee. You have zhis planned out zo well, non?"   
"Heh, no." 

  
The day passed without event. Over the four days spent traveling to Nunia with Black, and even as they wandered the city of Nunia Harle truly began to feel a bonding of friendship between them. To her, it felt as if she had known him for her entire life. He knew so much about her, her likes and dislikes, even down to her favorite foods. And they would tease one another in lighthearted childish ways that gave Harle a sense of peace and belonging. Serge still crept into her mind at slower times of the day, but she would push him off and burry him somewhere. He did nothing now but ruin her fun.   
Pushing off Black's venomous statement, the city had more then a hundred people in it. And since there was no public library or reference books available anywhere, it all came down to Black and Harle searching the streets and asking anyone who looked like they lived in Nunia more then a decade or so. As far as Black and Harle could figure it to be, Euore could not have been destroyed more then thirteen or so years ago. The newest records in Geal dated to around that time. So if anyone would remember Euore they would have to have been around Nunia for quite some time.   
Clues ran about like frighten sprites as the clowns neared and passed. For no one had ever heard of Euore. And any business man that may have traded with Euore acted completely uncooperatively with the circus clowns. Soon after dark the two headed back to the hotel, dragging their feet and their spent smiles. Nighttime called to them with fervency, but both ignored. Nunia and Geal stood far apart, and the trip had worn their feet to stubs.   
Black pulled his jesters' cap from his head, letting the golden spikes of his hair spring out about his head. Running his hands through his knotted locks he threw the coxcomb aside and pulled the covers up and over his body. Besides his hat were his gloves laid in a pile, and on the floor below them both were his two pointed shoes. All the other articles of clothing he wore were scattered about the room in a sporadic pattern. Rubbing up against the covers, his gray underclothes became a second skin, and permitted the cloth sensation of the bed to touch him.   
Harle slept on top of the covers of her own bed. She removed her headdress and unfolded her hair so each bundle was able to straighten and rest from the stress of her great hat. With quick flicks she also removed her shoes and gloves, and the puffed portion of her pants, as well as her split cape, and her chest plate. Only the most comfortable portions of her clothes remained. And she lay there looking up at the ceiling.   
Sleep came to them both, with slowness but with persistence. 

  
Black was asleep for some time. He could feel the weight of his unconscious mind fall away as his eyes slowly moved and opened. Blinking once it took the harlequin a moment to see that the room had not fallen into the morning yet. The sun had not risen and the moons were too dim to help in the tiny room. What had awaken him then, in such a peaceful black night? And he heard a sound coming from Harle's side of the room. It was a stifled sob.   
"Harle?" Black called out delicately into the dark. "Are you alright?" She did not offer a response. But of course he did not expect one. Springing from the bed Black landed on his feet. The floor creaked as it too awoke from its slumber. Testing the wooden planks lining the floor Black stepped across the room and lit the two oil lamps. Turning to Harle he felt his expression melt down his face. She sat holding her knees up against her chest and the tears seemed to fall everywhere. He was beside her instantly, holding her, comforting her. And she wept on him, for most of the night. The floors were silent, and the sun rose with a reverent lack of noise. Her sobs were the only sounds. But her own grasp was strong around Black and he would never move until she fell asleep. 

--- 

  
And so it went for several days in Nunia. Black and Harle would goof about by the daylight. They would inquire of anyone and everyone of reasonable age about the village of Euore. Some had heard of it, and some even remembered the day the Euore traders stopped coming. But no one had ever head a reason as to why, or what would have happened to any survivors.   
At night Black would awaken ritualistically to Harle. She did not mean to wake him. In fact she hoped he would not have to keep enduring such disturbances. But she would always make that one sigh a little to loud, or the tear drops would fall a little to hard and he would wake up, call out her name once asking if she was alright. Then he would light both lamps, look upon her with a genuinely sad and compassionate face for a few moments, and then spend the rest of the evening soothing her back to sleep. 

--- 

  
A week passed since the two arrived in Nunia. Harle was alone, wandering rather aimlessly about the streets and asking everyone she could about Euore. But no one had any new information of it, to her lack of surprise. And her wanderings took her back around in circles and through now familiar streets and past shops and roads that already bore her foot prints.   
"Pardon moi." Harle stepped up to a tall and well-to-do gentleman. "May I ask zhe zmall queztion?"   
"Question? Why of course you cute little clown! What could it be you want?" He was excited to be singled out by, what he thought was one of the circus performers. Since of course, they must perform twenty-four hours a day he instantly thought he was part of some act or some joke.   
"Have you ever heard of zhe village Euore?" Harle asked, ignoring his childish glee.   
"Euore? No I haven't, I'm sorry. Was that some kind of joke or something? Did I miss it?" He asked looking about as if hopping to discover a hidden audience somewhere.   
"Non, merci beacuoup." Harle bowed her head slightly and began to walk away from the annoying but well meaning man. He flustered about only a moment before embarrassment gripped him, and dragged him off to privacy.   
"Excuse me." A small voice suddenly halted Harle's steps. The voice held some significance, and its simple sound had grasped Harle by the throat. "Did you ask about a village called Euore?"   
"Ah! Oui!" Harle turned back with a hopeful smile. The woman who had stopped her was one of the many women perusing the shops in hopes of finding the cheapest goods. With beautiful purple hair, she stood out a little amongst the other women all flocked around her. Her age had no grasp on her beauty, and few middle-aged woman could boast of similar. But she had lines across her face showing a touch of mortality. Her eyes were purple like her hair, and Harle found herself starring deeply into them. "Come and walk with me jester." The woman requested, and began to step through the crowds.   
"Bonjor, Je'mapelle Harle." Harle introduced herself soon into the walk.   
"Harle." The woman repeated the name half silently. "My name is Sister Julia." She finally responded.   
"Zister?"   
"Well, actually I'm not really a sister you see." Julia stopped a moment to examine a basket full of apples and other similar fruits. After squeezing and touching several prime specimens, she tossed them into her basket. "I'm not really part of the Church here in Nunia. Everyone just calls me that because of the work I do."   
"What work would zhat be?" Harle did not mean to push so hard, but the suspense of this conversation was rather bothersome.   
"I run a small orphanage at the edge of town." Julia said back with modesty and pride. "My children call me Sister Julia and the name stuck. Oh well. Who am I to argue?" After a quick chuckle she shook her head back and forth slowly. "Everyone here treats me very well, and I even get some charity from some of the shop owners and such."   
"You mentioned Euore?" Harle again showed her impatience.   
"Ah yes, pardon me for dodging the question." Julia smiled to herself for a moment. "I used to live in Euore. You mean a small village west of here, deep in the Teodorrin forests right?"   
"Oui."   
"I lived there right up until it was destroyed."   
"You know how it waz deztroyed zhen?" Harle looked hopeful at the prospect.   
"You look familiar. Have we met before?" Julia suddenly asked. "Ah look at me. I'm loosing my head again. Why don't you come to my house and we can talk over a cup of tea."   
"Whatever you wish to do." 

  
The tea was weak, more water then flavor, but at least it was warm. Harle only sipped sparingly at it, letting it trickle past her teeth but not so much as to stop the questions. The orphanage simply reeked of children. Even the kitchen seemed to be overrun with evidence that pointed towards the orphans that lived there. Tiny bits of garbage and portions of uneaten meals seemed to be crammed into every corner. A little girl stood over a basin pumping pompous spurts of water over a pile of needy dishes. After dipping a plate in the frothing dishwater, and scrubbing them with a white scrubbing rag she would hand them off to a young boy beside her. He would dry the dishes and pile them neatly, and with childish precision. Bit of glass littered the floor by his feet. Judging by the squeals of laughter emanating from every corner of the house, it seemed this place was a happy place. It represented, in Harle's opinion, the very best in humanity... and the very worst of circumstances for children to grow up in.   
As the two settled themselves in the cluttered kitchen area, a trickle of tiny children started gathering around Harle. They would stare up at her with large expectant eyes. She had to be from the circus, they thought. Not one to leave children in need, Harle would make a funny face, sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes and all the children would be completely delighted. The laughter was precious to Harle's ears, even Serge's voice could not soothe her so completely. She wished she could save some in a bottle and open it late at night when she felt sad and alone.   
"Go and play boys and girls." Sister Julia clapped her hands firmly and with whines and forced shrugs all of her children left Harle alone, though she didn't necessarily mind the attention. "Now what were we talking about?"   
"Zhe deztruction of Euore." Harle reminded her in a rather stiff manor.   
"You seem so intent on that question." Julia had not been insensitive to Harle's impatience, but rather she was trying to steer around any lengthy conversation of Euore. "I'm sorry but..." Harle, looked so familiar to her. "... I wasn't in the village when it was destroyed."   
"I zee." Harle's countenance fell noticeably. Though Harle was hard pressed to frown in public, she could not help it with such disappointment.   
"Yes." Julia continued. "I had decided to travel here to Nunia with a small band of traders. I was out of the village often with the traders, especially in my younger years. They were such a nice bunch I could never say no to them when they invited me along!" Julia smiled a distant smile, suddenly wrapped up in her memories. "When I returned to Euore a month later, there was nothing left. The women had all been killed, and the men were no where to be seen. Only a few small children were left in the rubble, crying out for their mommies and daddies. But I was the only one who heard them."   
"Zhese orphans... " Harle finally understood, how Julia had come into such a profession.   
"Well, not these orphans. You see, there was five or six children in the village, alive that is. I took them back here and opened this orphanage. That was, well, it had to be fourteen years ago. Some of those children stay around and help me but the brood of orphans I have now, are from all over." Julia's expression changed suddenly. "So, how is life in the circus Harle?"   
"What? Oh, oui. Zhe circuz!" Harle was taken completely off guard by the sudden topic change, but she did her best to stay on top of it. "It's a living, non?"   
"Oh! I'm sorry again. The children are always teasing me about my wandering head. I was just thinking about Rick, one of my three year olds. He wants to go to the circus so badly. But we can't afford it." Julia shrugged a half shrug and grinned. She had come to terms with her lack of money long ago. But it was still hard on the children.   
"I wish I could help." Harle responded with a genuine tone.   
"Oh no! That is not what I meant! Oh you must think I am terribly rude! I'm not trying to squeeze free tickets from you or anything like that... I was just thinking about Rick..." And she went silent.   
"Madamozelle Julia?" Harle called gently, to wake her from her trance.   
"Yes! Sorry! Euore! We were talking about Euore." She giggled to herself, giving her the appearance of a teenager again. "No one was alive to tell me what happened, or the survivors had all gone away, leaving the children. Euore was such a mess, I could hardly believe my beautiful village had turned into such a hole in the ground. I was twenty-four then. Time moved so quickly since that year. It feels like an hour has gone by, like I had just visited Euore yesterday..."   
"Tell moi, about Euore. About how it waz, before it waz deztroyed..."   
"You are so interested in my hometown. Why?" Julia asked before she continued.   
"I am not zure." Harle finally admitted. She was not yet ready to admit, still, that she had even come from Euore. But she could not deny that she felt some deep and almost ethereal bond to the village.   
"Well, I don't mind talking about it anyway." Julia smiled a knowing smile. She knew when a child was avoiding a question but Harle was not one of her children, and she could not force a response. "Euore was a beautiful place, to say the least. We did allot of trading with Nunia and so we managed to get some modern building supplies as well as other things like that. We were a hearty but whimsical bunch of settlers. My parents always told me, that we settled so far in the middle of the woods because we wanted to be close to the trees and to the fresh air. She said that several groups of people went out into the woods seeking the things of nature, and they all met coincidentally and then built Euore. It was like some act of destiny. I never believed in that, but still when it was told by the village elder, it would be such a romantic story."   
"Oui." Harle let out a sad but pleased sigh.   
"We hunted, and we gathered to survive. But we also had several spice gardens that flourished in our forests. We used the spices to trade with Euore, and to this day Euore Green Spice is a rare and precious luxury among the fine cooks in Nunia and beyond. There was probably about two hundred or so people in Euore, so for a small wilderness village it was pretty big. But we all knew each other and we all got along really well."   
"Have you ever zeen zhis before?" Harle asked, un-tucking her small teddy bear from the folds at the tops of her pants. It was the little bear she had found in Euore. Wishing to restore it back to the way it was originally, it had become a project of Harle's since she left Euore with Black. The bear was a normal teddy bear, but it wore a red and blue jester hat on it's head. Only recently had she finished restoring it. Nunia had many more resources that she needed to finish sewing the bear properly. She gave him two brand new black button eyes, and two jingle bells for his littler jester hat. One bell was silver, the other gold. Content to name her project, Harle called the little bear Dancer. When she had left for El Nido she had left the bear with Black, but now that she was traveling she would never think of separating from it. Usually she left it on her pillow in the hotel room. Hoping though to find a survivor to ask about it, she had brought it along that afternoon. Laying Dancer carefully on the table between her and Julia, she waited.   
"Dancer." Julia finally whispered. Picking up the doll, Julia looked as though she was holding a bar of the purest gold. Her arm trembled and the bells of the bear jingled softly.   
"How do you know zhe name of zhe bear?" Harle asked, completely astonished. She had never mentioned the name even to Black Harlequin yet.   
"That was the name it had, back in Euore. A woman named... named... " Julia struggled for a name. "Her name was Sparrow. She made the bear especially for her new born daughter. Her daughters name was..." Julia paused only a moment. "Catherine. Sparrow and her husband Jonathan had a baby girl that they named Catharine. She had golden blonde hair and the biggest wettest blue eyes you could ever imagine. Both of her parents were very proud of her. Dancer was Catharine's favorite toy even as a baby. I saw her up until she was three years old. That was the last time I saw her, and it was when the village was leveled. I assumed she was dead." Julia's mouth turned downwards in a frown for just a moment. "I told you I was out with the traders allot, going back and forth between Euore and Nunia. But if I remember correctly, there was something strange about Catharine. Something had happened to her, in her early childhood that I was not there to see, and no one in the village ever spoke of it."   
Harle did not respond. She could not. Was it possible? Was this girl Catharine... just an early version of herself? Was she Catharine? It was impossible! IMPOSSIBLE!   
"Oh. Look. Now I've made you upset." Julia lay the bear Dancer back on the table, but Harle seemed loathed to take it back again. "Perhaps I've talked to much. But you seem to care allot more then you should. Is there something wrong Harle? Are you alright? Is there anything I can do for you?"   
There was a sudden and ravenous bang at the front door. The children all disappeared, wedging themselves in secret hiding places and all at once the orphanage fell deathly silent. Shouts of two or three men could suddenly be heard from behind the door.   
"Hmm." Julia was suddenly very serious, and her face twisted about into a lingering grimace. "You don't mind waiting in the back room there? I will be back in just a moment." She indicated a small doorway leading to what looked like a large closet. But the men outside were becoming angrier and Julia began to bounce with desperation. Unwilling to cause displeasure to her host, Harle complied and threw herself into the closet. Shutting the door behind Harle in a quick sweep Harle could only look into the nothingness of the dark, and listen through the thin closed door.   
"Well hello there Julia!" The voice was rowdy and young, and it had a hint of violence. "What's up?" A smash of thin glass tinkled through the door to Harle's ear.   
"Please don't do that." Julia was soft spoken and she held a submissive tone.   
"Shut up."   
"Why are you here?" She asked sullenly.   
"We've decided that you haven't been paying enough… heh... taxes." Another deeper voice stated. "We're hear to collect."   
"I don't have any money to pay you today. You know I had to buy groceries for the children."   
"Yeah, whatever, listen lady we don't really care about you or your little kiddies. We only want our money. Pay up." There was another smash, louder this time, and Julia let out a muffled gasp.   
"Please..." Julia whispered.   
"Please what?" The obnoxious voice asked. Julia lost her words, after his outburst. "I'M TALKING TO YOU!" He shouted, and there was a sharp sound of flesh striking flesh.   
"Stop it." Julia whimpered. It was then that Harle noticed the bright red glow in the closet. Burning, glowing, leaking power into the closet her eyes blazed with glory in demonic form. And going with the emotion Harle tore the closet door from its hinges and threw it aside.   
"Zhat iz enough." Harle's voice held the edge of a fine razor, and her eyes glowed with inhuman power. To her surprise, there were three boys there, not just two. All of them could not be much past their teen years. One was tall and muscular, another of medium height and build, and there was a thin boy that made up the trio. Dressed in patched, loose fitting clothes even those of the street had little regard for their tastes. Humans might have called them children, but whether they were young or not, it made no diffrence. Actions of this nature, were to be atoned for.   
"Please Harle, don't get involved in this." Julia begged, her eyes pleading.   
"Its too late for that." The thin one, obviously the leader called upon the full nasality of his voice and stepped up to Harle. He was taller then her, but many were and Harle was unimpressed to say the least. "Well hello there you cute little thing. Are you from the circus? What's your name?" He rose a single finger to tickle Harle's chin but before it touched her, her own hand was wrapped tightly around his finger. "Aren't you spunk...AHHH!!!" He never finished his sentence, finding himself flying across the kitchen in a blur. The impact against the wall shook the house and threw bits of wood and sound in waves across the kitchen. With a sharp exhale the hood settled into unconsciousness. 

  
"And zhe other two ran out of zhe house zo, fast I could hardly see zhem! What cowards." Harle related her tale of unselfish heroism to Black as they sat about a steaming meal. With nowhere left to go, the two had agreed to meet in the tavern to eat dinner that night. Drunks littered the bar, but few made their way towards the tables and such limited privacy was still relished.   
"So you saved Julia, and all the children." Black took a bite of the poultry dish he had ordered. A sour flavor gnawed on his tongue, but he ignored the taste and continued. "Was that the best thing to do?" He asked simply.   
"What? Of course it waz!" Harle replied with complete optimism. She felt amazingly good about what she had done for Sister Julia. It was not often that Harle was able to play the heroine for someone, and she understood why Serge had enjoyed it so much.   
"You know, I think it may have been better for everyone if you just left it alone." Black replied with a troubled look. "We are leaving in a few days, and you cannot protect this Julia person forever. All you have really done is make a few angry criminals, even more angry. When we are gone, there is no telling what will happen to Sister Julia or her children." Blacks words were harsh. Harle was unused to such chastisement from someone who had always been so soft. And so she sat in guilty silence, pushing her food about with her fork "This is a lesson many human vigilantes learn too late. When you choose a battle, when you chose to be a hero, always take into account the results, and what will happen when you are gone. Next time, finish them off permanently..." With a forceful action he speared a portion of green string bean. "... or do not step in at all." 

--- 

  
Blacks eyes opened slowly like two curtains to reveal the dark hotel room ceiling. He listened for several moments, but he heard nothing. Turning over in his bed he looked over to where Harle slept. Usually, by now she was sitting with her knees close up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly about her shins. But he saw nothing but the long slender shadow of her asleep. Black had made it a habit to awaken at this time of night, but for the first time in over a week Harle was able to sleep soundly through the night. It was good to see her relaxing in such peace, and Black wondered distantly if he had been too hard on her at dinner. But he had sworn to always give Harle what she needed. And right then, she needed a small pinch of reality. She wouldn't hate him for it, for very long.   
Pushing aside the curtain Black looked out over the small city. The ragged walls of the original castle foundation ran in a jagged pattern against the starry sky. Torches and other points of light dotted what small amount of the city he could see. Even up on the fourth floor it was difficult to see very far across the city's horizon. Had Harle's actions really merited such concern? In the night, the city seemed so peaceful and without need of fighting or evil. Just as he settled in gaze through the glass, eyes rummaging through what could be seen, Black noticed something that caused his stomach to wrench about inside of him. It was a steady glow coming from a distant corner of Nunia. The glow was far too large to be that of any candle or torch or even a group of torches. It could be only one thing.   
Black rushed out into the night, in his full costume and carrying all of his battle elements and his grid with him. Jogging through the lonely streets, jumping cracked pavement and sliding about obstacles the hurried jester let his feet slow. It was true. Julia's Orphanage, stood ablaze with pure and evil fire. Billows of black smoke hurled themselves heavenward and covered the moons. As if trying to appease a god with offerings, citizens ran towards the building hurling buckets of water onto the fire, screaming of the heat and then retreating. But their efforts did little to calm the rage of the fire. Black could only bring himself to stare into the fire, his silver eyes dancing with the glow.   
"Non!" A sudden gasp of horror impacted against Black's ears. "Non! Zhis iz not right! It cannot be!" Black turned to face Harle. She had followed Black all the way from the hotel room, out of curiosity. But this... was simply too much for her.   
"Harle. Please." Black held his hands out in front of him, in an open gesture. "Listen to me."   
"Non!" She stumbled backwards, backing away from Black and the whole situation like it was some deadly predator. And perhaps it was to her.   
"This isn't your fault. Things like this..." Black tried to speak words of comfort, but they stuck to his throat. Why? Why did these sort of terrible things always seem to find their way to Harle? She could not bare the world, alone on her two little shoulders.   
Suddenly Black felt two large hands pull his arms back behind him. The force of the motion completely surprised the dark clown and for a few moments he didn't resist, trying to turn his head to see what was happening. Something heavy and metallic snapped tightly about both wrists, and a strong leg knocked against the back of his knees. He found himself kneeling on the ground, shackled behind the back. In unison, upon his capture a burst of three laughs moved about him from behind.   
"Long time no see, eh circus babe?" Standing about the Black Harlequin, the three small-time criminals who had set the blaze waited. They had somehow subdued Black Harlequin and though he struggled, now the restraints were cast iron.   
"You did zhis!" Harle pointed a long accusing finger towards them. "Why?!"   
"Because." The lead thug shrugged his shoulders. "You bothered us. And this seemed like the best way to even the score a little."   
"But zhe children!"   
"I told your little friend, I don't care about the little kiddies. They're all gonna grow up and get in my way anyway." The lead hood reached into the folds of his sleeve, pulling out a small assassin dagger. Though he lacked the skill to use it properly, it's pointed tip would be fatal to any flesh, in any wielders grasp. "But me and the guys, we were thinking. I don't think you learned your lesson just yet. I think, since you seem to like this guy over here so much, seeing his insides might finally teach you not to mess with us!"   
Harle just stood there, speechless, full of rage and suicide. Black had stopped struggling. He was looking into her face but she would not return the gaze. Instead, her flaming eyes bore into the three punk kids, who dared to oppose a goddess. Casting her morals aside, she was human no longer. With the renouncement of her humanity, a sensation began to work it way through her chest. It bore with it a dark and inhuman power she had never felt before. As it tore through her, feeding off her rage, growing bigger and bigger inside of her, she looked down to herself and her crawling skin.   
"Say bye-bye to your friend!" And the lead swung his dagger towards Black's chest. Before the dagger found its mark Harle suddenly burst into a glorious white light. The dagger fell from it's masters hand to the ground. With such a surprising burst of light, the boy could not gather the will to hold his weapon.   
"...no..." Black breathed. His eyes grew wide with realization. "She's doing it. But she cant! If she does it now, without training or guidance... she might kill everyone in the whole city...."   
Harle floated upwards into the air, rotating slowly. Her light solidified into an orb that surrounded her completely. Her form fell almost invisible now against the sun-like sphere. A color began to pulse in the center of the light. It was a deep flowing purple color that pulsed in and out and in again like a heartbeat. Two large yellow and purple wings covered in leathery skin erupted from the rear of the orb. Legs, purple and covered with scales came from the bottom of the orb. They appeared agile, and muscular for their large size. From the sides of the orb, two arms of similar purple scales slid out into the atmosphere. And finally, with a terrible sound a head rose ominously out of the light. At once, the light shattered like glass and the creature born of the egg of light beat its wings and hovered in the night sky.   
Her wings were large and when they beat downwards, winds were hurdled across the ground. Though she was a dragon, her body was thin. She had a long winding tale that coiled about behind her. And her legs were slender for a dragon (but large and strong by any other standard). Harle had realized the fullest extent of her draconic power, and had changed into a true Dragon goddess.   
"So." Black sighed, casting his eyes downward. "It happened." Turning his head back he shouted over his shoulder. "Release me now! Or we will all die!" But the boys who had been in control just a moment ago, could no longer bring themselves to move or speak. "Do it NOW!" Black screamed, his voice straining against his throat.   
Harle's pointed snout came careening forward, slicing the air in a blur of motion. Her jaws snapped about the lead teenager, crushing his body with little effort. After shaking about the corpse for several moments she tossed it away, unwilling to swallow it. The body smashed into a wall, denting and cracking the bricks. With a forceful push of her tail, the next gangster was impaled, and clawing at Harle's appendage, wedged firmly in his stomach. Just as quickly as she had launched it, she withdrew it and the boy fell. The third had the sense to run. But with two wing beats Harle was already above him. The talons on the ends of her legs grasped him by the shoulders and threw him skyward. His scream drained away as he flew heaven bound. Harle's rage was not yet through. Releasing a scream, half that of a tortured woman, and the other half that of a dragon beast she began to dismantle Nunia stone by stone. Slamming her tail about, buildings exploded in bursts of dust and rubble. The ground seemed to cough and shudder as she rammed her head into one home after another.   
All of the villagers had completely abandoned the orphanage, and were now running about in complete panic, circling round and round. Some of the braver guardsmen tried to fight the Purple Dragon but she disposed of them instantly with a belch of purple energies. Black clawed at the ground with his restrained hands. There was a set of keys to his shackles that had fallen beside him. Finally he reached the keys, and unlocked his chains.   
"Harle! Please!" Black leapt into the air with all of the strength he could muster. With great skill he guided his flight, and landed roughly on Harle's nose. She tried to shake him off, but he held fast. Starring deeply and hypnotically into her eyes he began to slow her motions. "Harle... it's me Black..." He began to speak with a soothing tone. "I'm alright now. See? I'm fine." Her eyes were the same bright red orbs, and they looked in to his face with insanity. But slowly, they began to slow, and began to calm. "You are killing people Harle, human people. Revenge is for evil people Harle, you are not evil. Come back to me, little jesteress." His voice was pleading and soft. A bright light encased Harle again, in another sphere. But when the sphere shattered and fell away, only a limp little Harlequin was left. She fell from the sky, into Blacks waiting arms.   
Her eyes sealed themselves shut, as her body regained it's energy and composure. Suddenly they snapped open and Harle let out a gasp, as if this was the first breath she had ever taken. She began to tremble, clawing at Black trying to draw him as close to her as possible. He held her, rocking her, whispering to her and telling her it was alight now. Telling her, that it was all over.   
"What happened?" She finally managed to calm herself down enough to talk.   
"Something that shouldn't have happened..." Black replied with a weak but understanding smile. "... for a long time."   
"Demon!" Someone shouted. A crowd had circled about the two harlequins. Armed with any object they could carry, the villagers were not pleased nor ready to let the two clowns leave in peace. "Kill the demon!"   
"Non! I am not zhe demon!" Harle tried to correct them, but she could not even believe her own words. What had happened just then? She could hardly remember.   
"She lies! Kill her before she turns back into that beast!"   
"Wait." A soft and voice requested, from the back of the crowd. Slowly a path opened from amongst the spectators and angry villagers. Julia, stepped slowly into the clearing and towards Harle. "Take this." She threw a crumpled ball of paper at the jesteress. "And get out." Julia's face was so full of rage, she could not hide it all. Turning her back to the jester pair she walked back into the crowds. And her shoulders shook with sobs. 

  
© Copyright 2002. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	13. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 12

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 12 – "A Profession of Love and A Prophesy of the Future" -=- 

  
Harle lost her speech. Her tongue could no longer move inside her and she rested it as the two journeyd. The piece of paper that Sister Julia had given her had been drawn with shaky hand, lines wiggeling andsquigeling about across the paper to form a map of Teodorrin. Amidst mountains and tree filled valleys a red dot had been plunged with a heavy strike and the word "Sewqra" had been written beside it with the same ink. Black held the map, and lead her threw the forest wilderness. But she did not notice their path had stryed away from Sewqra, towards another place entirely. After studying the map, he had a much better idea in mind. 

  
"Just a little further through here." Black was leading Harle along through a maze of brush and tree trunks. The forest threw out constricting vines and branches, summoning up dense underbrush as if protecting something further along. If Harle's mind was on the present, she may have wondered at Blacks determination. Why was he so completely set on piercing such impassible forest? This thought never came to her though. Her mind rested far away, and nowhere at all.   
"Here we are." Black finally dragged her through the last line of trees and shrubbery. Alone, away from the forest the two stood upon a shelf of stone, jutting out into the middle of the sky. The cliff reached for the mountains in the furthest distance, keeping itself high above the forests that lingered below. Trees reached up high, their branches grasping for the cliff. And interwoven among the green was a lake holding the blues of the sky above. It spread its presence thorugh the whole forest, pushing streams like needless deep into the wooded ground. At Harle's feet lay red gems, apples fresh and innocent. Above her head stood a single, low stooping apple tree, shedding its children onto the cliff as it enjoyed a view it had grown up with for decades.   
Harle sat down, below the tree and starred silently and unimpressed. Her mouth was still straight, neither a smile nor a frown. Black did not push for a reaction. He instead stood beside her, and starred out into the sky. Eventually the sun crawled across the roadway built in the heavens, and reached out and touched the horizon. The sky turned red and orange, as the sun struggled to crawl into it's bed. It kindly offered shade to her and Black, as it had few guests and enjoyed the company. And with the silent invitation, the two jesters sat below the branches, and leaned against the apple tree guardian of the cliff.   
"I will go and find something to eat." Black rose to his feet, leaving his leather sholder sack with Harle. "Don't go anywhere."   
No response.   
"I'll be right back." Black finally stated, and he left with apprehensive mutterings.   
The hunt was rushed, though Black disliked to gather food with such speed. Hunting had always been a spiritual event for the black harlequin. But worries began to creep into his mind. Yes, a cliff like that one was a romantic and peaceful spot to take a small rest on. But what if Harle decided to take a more permanent rest? It was only a short hop to such a goal. To his utter relief Harle had not moved. In fact she had not moved even an inch and Black wondered if she had brought herself to at least blink, or breathe. Oddly ouf of place there was a fire burning next to her. She had to have prepared it, for the sticks had obviously been gathered and the spent shell of a Fire Ball element lay next to the campfire.   
"You didn't have to make the fire." Black lay his game to the ground, and began rummaging through his shoulder sack for his skinning knife. "For the next few days, you only need to rest. I took you here, so you can rest and get some of that emotion out of your system. Leave everything else, in my hands."   
Harle didn't eat. Black didn't eat much either. His mind could not bring himself to feel hunger when Harle had not spoken a word to him. Hours pushed by, Black counted them distantly as he watched the sun jog across the clouds and the blue. And soon the creature of the sky fell below the mountains again. The glow of the fire was only a singular light, accompanied by the moons and a myriad of stars. A nervous tension began to build up in Black's throat. He had something to say, but the words illuded him. Somehow he had hoped to express it through his actions, and it seemed to work just a little. Black realized though, this sort of thing needed words.   
"Harle." Black sat down beside her, resting his back against the tree. She was so close, just inches from him. "Harle I..." He titled his head back a little, to look up at the night skies. "Harle, I'm completely in love with you." The words finally arrived. At once he felt a sting, a sting of fear. And now it was her turn to speak, if she chose to. Minute after minute passed without any results. Black felt his pulse beating in his ears, quickening as Harle drew in a breath, and slowing when she expelled it out into silence. The pause was too long, Black began to feel his heart sink inside of him, slowly sliding deeper into his chest and into the blackness of his stomach.   
"Why?" Her accent, was a refreshing scent to his ears.   
"Why what?" He leapt onto her words instantly.   
"Why do you love?"   
Black laughed in small chuckleing bursts. It was his turn to be silent for a few moments. It proved a difficult task to match words to the emotions he had carried alone for so long a time.   
"It is not secret Harle," He began. "that I have known you for a long time. Perhaps, you have not always known me. But as I have spent so long watching you from a far distance, I have seen something that no one else in this world has seen. Confidence, poise, determination, loyalty, beauty and grace are all yours, without question. But deeper beneath all of that, there is something buried. You have a spirit inside of you, that I can never forget. Though your soul is tortured, you continue on with shinning eyes. That is the best way I can describe it right now. Perhaps eventually I can explain it better, but...." And his words trailed off there. Words ran dry where feelings only just begun.   
"I have killed." Harle responded. "I have killed many in zhe name of zhe Dragon godz. Do you ztill love moi?"   
"I will always love you."   
"I am not human, I am not dragon. I am not anyzhing at all but zhe puppet, made only to deztroy zhe world. Do you ztill love moi?"   
"Yes."   
"If you had to chooze between zhe world or moi..." Harle turned to Black, her eyes capturing flickers of firelight. "... which would you chooze?"   
Black turned back to look out the darkened heights of the cliff. The question was so weighted, and so dangerous he could not help but stop and think. There were two paths that formed from this one question. The path of a lover, and the path of a hero. Which path, was for Black? With soft motions he gathered her up in his arms, and drew her body to lean upon his. Her head tilted over, her ear resting on the tip of his shoulder.   
"I would choose..." Black leaned his mouth close to hers. He could feel the rhythmic and shallow breath of the harlequin girl. "...you..."   
Black was not a hero. He never wanted to be, to anyone but Harle. His past was not a clean one, but for now he just rested with Harle. Between them, their Heart Gems pulsed with a bright glowing light, almost like two candles burning to illuminate the nighttime. Her arms, suddenly tightened around him, and she fell asleep... 

  
The branch was wide, and it supported her with little effort. She leaned back against the tree's trunk, the bark prodding her back with lumps of bark and crawling insects. But it didn't matter. Such discomfort never traveled to her mind as she sat up high in the tree. It had been three days after all, of waiting. Off in the near distance there burned a small fire, decorating the edge of a cliff. It laced a black trail of smoke into the dying daylight. Close to the fires warmth, sat Harle and Black. She didn't need to stare very long or very hard to see those ridiculous outfits.   
Kidd wrapped her arms tightly about her chest. The approaching night carried nothing but cold, and left nothing but chilled tears. Harle must have not felt very cold right then, wrapped up inside of that new harlequin. And Kidd turned her face away. It wasn't fair. Harle was the herald of the fall of humanity, but when she herself had fallen somehow she found someone to pick up the pieces. And Kidd... was all alone. No one loved her, not even herself. Perhaps it wasn't the night that was so cold, but her empty arms and her empty soul.   
"Bonjour." The night was a canvas for Kidd's imagination. And from the depths of her own mind an image of Harle appeared. It shimmered and moved about like a ghost yet it held the same familiar form and loathed accent. "Why zhe long face mon amie?"   
"GAH!" Kidd leapt at the image, with her dagger drawn. The blade seemed to shimmer with drops of her rage as she threw her weapon aimlessly into the midst of the ghostly memory.   
"Ha! By now you know you cannot kill moi." The image laughed at Kidd, circling about her as she sat on the branch.   
"Stop it!" Kidd screamed at the ghost with all of her might and soul. The laughter, it had to stop! And she charged again, the blade passing through the image, distorting it in a small line across it's chest and then it returned to normal. And Kidd fell to the ground, her attack pulling her from her branch. "Leave me alone! Why cant ya just leave me alone...?" Kidd knelt on the ground, her knees aching, her fingers aching as she ground her blade into the dirt.   
"Moi? You want moi to go away?" The ghost floated about behind Kidd, bringing its voice very close to Kidd's ear. She spoke in a low and dramatic tone. "And who, haz been chazing who?"   
"So what?!" Kidd swung at the ghost from behind but Harle just laughed and flew upwards just out of reach, and there it stayed with its torturous blood-soaked eyes. "So what if I keep bloody chasing ya! Ya ruined m' life!"   
"Ruined your life? How have I done zuch a crime?" Harle's ghost came to a rest on a high branch, laying out in a comfortable sprawl. Her head rested propped up on her arm as she starred downwards. So real was this dream, that even Harle's bells ringed and jingled as she spoke and moved. "Hmm?"   
"Ya took m' mate Serge away from me! Ya couldn't just leave 'im alone could ya? No! Always flirtin' and shakin' yourself about and drawin' attention to ya-self! I couldn't get a word in between ya." Kidd sat down at the base of the tree in a defeated heap. Her voice, suddenly lost it's fire and push. "And ya would wrap that stupid bloody accent around his neck, seducing 'im right under my own eyes. And he'd look at you with such... desire."   
"Dezire? What do you know of Serge's dezires hmm?" The ghost pointed towards where Harle and Black were still resting in silent affection. "Do you zee monsieur Serge over zhere? Non! He had not love pour moi."   
"That's just because he lost his memories." Kidd reject the ghost's appeasement flatly.   
"And you think zhat Serge would show love to moi, if he had hiz memoriez? But non!" It was the ghosts turn to become angry. "It waz alwayz about you non? How do you think I felt, knowing I could never have him even in a million yearz. You think I flirted with him, because I waz hopping to drag love from hiz heart? Silly girl. He waz never to be mine, but I loved him anyway. Zhat... iz zhe worst love of all.... non?"   
"Yeah." Kidd admitted it softly. She could relate to such a feeling.   
"I toyed with Serge, becauze... it waz zhe only way I could pretend to have something I waz not allowed to have."   
And what could Kidd say to that? This line of reasoning had been exhausted to Kidd's dismay. But it wasn't over. It was impossible for Kidd to allow herself to think of Harle as human, or as something equal with her at least.   
"Ya were made to kill off us humans!" Kidd shouted skyward, challenging the image to respond to such a blatant moral misjudgment. "Ya have blood on yer hands!"   
"Only moi?" Harle's voice was still pleasant and completely at ease. Kidd's line of questions were not at all unexpected. "You killed your own kind, non?"   
"Maybe." Kidd suddenly became quiet again. She had forgotten, if only for a few moments, the lives she had taken. It was an accident! But... well... it didn't feel like an accident. "At least I don't wanna kill everyone."   
"Ha!" Harle scoffed at such a pathetic stab. "You have no idea what it waz like to be in mon shoez. I waz zhe slave. Raized by zhe dragon godz I did not know anyzhing but to kill zhe humanz. We are zhe superior beingz, zhey would say to moi." And she drew in a long breath. "It waz all, I knew. You thought zhat you were one of a kind non? Until you learned zhat you were a clone. I thought I waz zuperior, born to kill every human on zhe face of zhe world. We were both wrong. And we both paid for it. You have lived so free all of your life, you don't know what it iz like to be zhe zlave. You drowned yourzelf in your own self-pity, never thinking zhat I might have mon own tearz to shed."   
"Bah! Bloody nonsense. How in the name of the moons am I supposed to belive that?" Kidd was still holding desperately to her hatred. Like a security blanket, or a pretty coin she grasped it in her hands and would not let it go no matter how hard it shook her.   
"You know it, and I know it. If I wanted to make zhe omni-dragon, it would be soaring above zhe heavnez right now."   
"Why are ya telling me all this now? What good is it gonna do us?" No more change. She had too much change in her life, far more then her share.   
"We are similiar, you and I." Harle's voice became distant, and softer. This conversation was not meant to make Kidd feel worse, but to make the best of a situation between too star crossed enemies. "We are both forgotten. No one iz here to love us. No one rememberz what we have done, and what we have suffered. Zhat iz why you chase moi, but you cannot kill moi. It iz because, you really do not want to kill moi. You juzt want something in your life, to alwayz be zhe same. Zhis vendetta of yourz, iz something you alone remember. Not even I wish to continue our little gamez. Look." With a shimmering red finger, spirit Harle pointed off towards her embodiment. Real Harle made a snuggling motion, rubbing her head comfortably closer to Black's body. "I do not hate humanz anymore. I think, I never did."   
There was a long stretch of silence between the two. Memories in Kidd's mind, memories she alone now carried, danced and performed before her minds eye like a morbid play. To admit that this imaginary enemy was correct, would be to sacrifice half of her being. The other half had already died, the day she rescued a blue haired angel, who had lost his way. Deep down inside though, in the very core and essence of her being Kidd knew it was time to change her life and grow up.   
"Whadda I have ta do then?" Kidd asked. Her voice was low and growling. This was a revelation she did not want. "I can't just wipe away all of the hate."   
"No." Harle floated down to a standing position beside Kidd. "You can not. You still do not see thingz from mon eyez. When you do zhat, you will underztand." And as suddenly as the ghostly figment had appeared, she melted away back into Kidd's eyes.   
"How?" Kidd asked the skies, and the forest. They answered her instantly. Erupting from the ground, tearing it to pieces huge chains emerged. Each wrapped around Kidd, dragging her with underworldy force to the ground from whence they were birthed. Unable to bear such a weight, and surprised by the sudden appearance of the chains Kidd fell face down into the broken soil. Tighter and tighter the chains drew about her body until she felt her bones beginning to bend. At that singular instant, a blue and white power began to surge through the ground and the chains. With such energies came mind-warping pain. Kid forced the air from both her lungs, yelling and weeping until each was deflated. And then, she lay there with her eyes opened as far as they could go and her mouth a gapping hole cradling an empty silent scream.   
"Now..." It was Harle's voice again. "Zhe only way out iz to touch zhe sky."   
"W-What?" Kidd could barley control her body any longer. Her mind was numbing and spinning about in her head. Soon she would loose consciousness. "I c-cant t-touch the sky...! Its... its impossible!"   
"It iz zhe only way."   
Eternity dripped by in beads of sweat as Kidd struggled even to stand. Her mind swayed back and forth, screaming for her to give up the fight, and lay down and die like she should have done so long ago. But her eyes were shut, and her legs kept pushing and pushing. An hour passed, then two. Kidd had pulled herself up onto her knees. Another hour passed and somehow, she had gotten on her feet. But the sky watched passively, still miles away. Her arms were shackled and pulled straight towards the ground. To resist the weight on them, could cause her arms to tear from their joints. Unconsciousness would not come to her, with sweet immunity to pain. She knew the only way was up, or down to death. And she reached for her salvation. Suddenly the sky bent downwards towards her. It's very edge tore free and began to move towards her in a merciful sweep. The edge, her goal dangled inches from her.   
The chains suddenly buckled about her, and changed in form. They became hands and arms and bodies. Friends that she had known since she could first open her eyes, pulled her back down towards the ground. None cared of her pain, or her need to touch the sky. Each existed only to pull Kidd back to the ground. Serge was amongst them, and others from her dragon adventure. But there were also the faces of her friends from the Radical Dreamers, and even so far back as childhood friends from the orphanage. Everyone she had ever known pulled on her with all their might. She could hear their breathes, their struggling grunting breathes. Finally, from the very sky itself an image of Kidd leapt downwards, planting her feet right into the real Kid's forehead. And the real Kid fell, and began spiraling downward into a great endless black pit from where there was not return.   
"And zhat, iz how I feel, mon ami."   
And the light smashed into her mind and her eyes blasted open. She awoke. Harle, the chains, the pain it had all been some sort of dream. Instantly Kidd scaled her tree threw her vision out across the morning sky. Harle and Black were talking quietly below their apple tree. Returning to the ground Kidd fell to her knees, feeling the ground as if she was hoping to find a trace of her dream still. But the chains had all gone away, and her friends too, and Harle's ghost. But the words and the sensations remained in her mind... and in her heart. 

  
"... and zo, Serge waz standing zhere in hiz boxerz." Harle was retelling a favorite memory of her travels with her former human companions. Black listened attentively and with genuine eagerness. Since they had first arrived Harle had slowly come back to him. And she chattered away most of the day, in the most feminine and delightful of manors.   
"What did he say?" Black asked.   
"Serge? Nozhing. He juzt put hiz pantz back on and pretended nozhing happened." A smile, felt good on Harle's face. She enjoyed the sensations of company and healing. "And so-" Her words were cut off instantly, as a distinctive crack of a twig ricocheted off a tree somewhere behind them. She was on her feet first, but Black soon followed, each grabbing their weapons and elements.   
"Do you see anyzhing?" Harle whispered, her eyes alert and darting about in a careful searching pattern.   
"Nothing." Black was similarly scanning the brush of the forest.   
"Hmm." A scent suddenly crossed Harle's nose. It was a slightly familiar, but slightly changed smell that caused Harle's eyes to crinkle in wariness. "Zhat smellz like..."   
"Uh, hiya." Kidd stepped out from the forest boundaries, grasping her left elbow with her right hand. Her head was down, and her eyes scanned Harle's feet.   
"You!" Harle charged forward to deal the first blow in the upcoming fight. But before she moved a single step, Black held out a restraining arm to stop her. He had seen what Harle's angry eyes had missed.   
"Hi yourself." Black replied to Kidd's greeting with suspicion but with a healthy dose of open mindedness (or perhaps naiveté).   
"I, uh..." Kidd was uncomfortable looking to say the least. She could not bring her gaze up above ankle level, and she seemed to be digging her hand into her elbow, the knuckles of her fingers turning white. "I just wanted ta... ta say sorry mate. Sorry for that whole 'bounty hunting' thing, and all the rest of that stuff there."   
"The rest...?" Black prompted for more information.   
"Yeah, ya know, the whole hating you bit." Kidd turned her back to them, and began to walk back into the forest. Her deed had been done and now she had a long useless life ahead of her. Harle shot a confused glance to Black, and he only gave a small shrug in response. But at the end of the shrug Black tacked an expectant glance. The apology was not for him, and so only Harle could respond.   
"Er, Kidd?" She called gently after the retreating thief.   
"Yeah?" Kidd stopped but did not turn.   
"Will you stay for breakfazt?"   
Kidd's eyes squeezed shut for a moment, her mouth turning upwards slowly.   
"Sure!" And she turned about, her lips curled in a pleasing manor.   
"I had better not regret zhis." Harle plopped herself next to the morning fire that had already been lit. As she sat she let out a sharp and relieving exhale.   
"Aww mate, ya wont regret it." Kidd jumped down onto the ground, beside the fire with an empty stomach and heart without stress or regret. "So, what's for breakfast?"   
"Gah! Already I regret it."   
"Aww, shut up clown girl." Kidd joked. Her voice and her insults were not filled with the same terrible bite they usually carried. Never had there been a breakfast so lively in that camp. The two bantered back and forth to one another, in a way they had done for so long. But the hate was gone. They spoke about everything, including Black, and how he and Harle had met. And he sat back and watched with a glowing countenance. To be surrounded by such energies eased his body and mind. Besides his own welfare, this was just what Harle needed, to get her back up to full strength and to wash away some of that dirty guilt inside of her.   
"Tell moi," Harle asked, after swallowing a bite of cooked rodent. "why zhe sudden change of heart?" The question seemed awkwardly placed amidst the conversation, and it quieted Kidd down for a moment. But her response was not only heartfelt, it was unexpected for Harle.   
"I guess, I just saw things through your eyes for once, mate." Kidd ripped another bit of meet in her teeth and swallowed it without chewing. " 'sides, ya ain't no fun to chase when yer moping around like the world turned it's back on ya." Kidd stood up, placing the bones of her meal on the ground beside the fire. The sun seemed brighter to her, as she turned her whole face into it's glory. She enjoyed the view, almost as much as Black and Harle had enjoyed it when they first arrived. The trees went on for a hundred miles, stopped only by the purple and blue of paternal mountains. "Ya know, this spot kinda looks like a spot me and m' mates the Dreamers used to go to sometimes." Stepping out the further most edge of the cliff Kidd drew in a huge breath. As soon as her lungs filled to capacity she let out a whooping holler that spread out for miles and miles about. A single moment past as her voice echoed mildly from the eternal forests. Spewing forth from the tree tops like a wave of brown and black, the birds of the forest suddenly rocketed skyward. The cliff became surrounded by a cloud of frightened wild fowl. It seemed the autumn leaves of the forest were falling backwards, heading into the sky. To see all the birds move in such grand harmony liberated Kidd's spirit even more. Shouting out she suddenly leaped from the cliff, spreading her arms out and joining the birds in flight for just a moment.   
"Kidd!" Harle was at the edge of the cliff in half a moment, just in time to see Kidd assume a perfect diving posture, and then smoothly cut the surface of the lake below. "KIDD!" Harle shouted down to the lake. It could not have been deep enough to cushion her fall! What if she was injured!? ... or worse?   
"...bugger..." Harle lifted a lone eyebrow, complimenting an agitated smile. The call had been faint but enough. Kidd crawled out from the lake, shaking herself off and turning to wave rigorously up at Harle and Black. "Hey! Mates! Come on! Give it a try!" She shouted back up the sheer rock face to the two jester hats she could see. But both Black and Harle disappeared, shaking their heads in a stiff NO gesture. Shrugging, and putting it off as their loss, Kidd began her trek back up the mountain plateau to the camp.   
"She iz so... SO.... "Harle growled.   
"Free?"   
"Non!" Harle snapped back at the well meaning Black. "Stupid! Zhat iz what I wanted to say!"   
"What do you think... about Kidd I mean." Black opted to rest against the apple tree rather then try his skill against the unforgiving lake.   
"I don't know, mon ami." Harle sat down, comfortably close to Black. His arm was around her instantly, and she did not resist it. "She waz alwayz zhe strange one, in mon opinion."   
"Ah, oui oui." Black replied with a playful accent.   
"Stop zhat!" Harle pushed him away, giggling rather foolishly.   
"I think it's genuine." Black became serious again. "I can sense a general change in her. Her edge is gone, her mood is light. I don't know. Maybe something dramatic happened somewhere between Geal and here."   
"Oui." Harle shrugged gently. It didn't matter. As soon as Kidd was back up on the mountain Harle would say good bye and be on her way with Black. But, she thought whimsically, she did wish the best for her old nemesis. 

  
"Oi! Now THAT was a hike!" Kidd finally made it to the camp, after nearly three hours of climbing and walking.   
"So... " Black asked, his tone laced with expectancy. "Was it worth the hike?"   
"Bugger yeah!" Kidd spat on the ground beside her. "And the lake was a hundred feet deep! At least!" Finally, Kidd noticed that the two had cleaned away the campfire, and had gathered whatever possessions they had spread out amongst the campsite. "We leaving? Where we headed mates?"   
"Uh, we?" Harle's left eyebrow rose with the question.   
"Yeah! You and me and your mate there, Blacky."   
"Black." Black Harlequin corrected.   
"That's what I said! Blacky!"   
"You are not coming! Black! Tell her she iz not coming!" Harle suddenly found herself shouting like a child. Normally she would have felt embarrassment, but such emotions shrugged off her shoulders at the prospect of a long trip with Kid.   
"I think you both need to stop acting like children." Black responded bluntly. "If you don't want her to come, you can tell her yourself. I don't have a problem with an extra traveler." And Black's face was a stone smile. Harle would get no relief from him.   
"Aww, come on! You know you need me! I can make a bloody wicked stew." Kidd offered. "You know it was meant to be, mate." That last sentence broke Harle, who realized just then for a moment that this was actually what she wanted. It was a rather startling revelation. But since she had first laid her two forlorn eyes onto the wicked red haired devil, she knew the she needed her as a friend, for support in this new world.   
"Bah! Zhis waz your stupid idea Black." And Harle stormed off in a mock rage. As she parted, a smile trickled past her face.   
"Don't worry about her." Black reassured Kidd. "She adores you." And Black went off after her, and Kidd followed a close third. Thieves and clowns, a strange group indeed to traverse the alien forests of a distant land. 

  


© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes.


	14. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 13

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 13 – "Can Anyone Crush the Spirit?" -=- 

  
Termina was a comfortable place, to him. It had been difficult to leave Arni to even come this far again. But El Nido was a home worth protecting and there was love here worth fighting for.   
"What is on your mind boy?" Radius propped himself up on the pier beside Serge. As usual Serge had been a quiet leader of the growing group. But his loyalties were never questioned, his motives never second guessed... until recently.   
"The others." Serge responded, gripping his swoop weapon beside him with subconscious force. "They are beginning to murmur."   
"We have found everyone we can possibly find. Count your blessings boy. We are lucky the gems work cross-dimensionally otherwise we would have to find someway to ... "And Radius made a swooshing sound while circling his finger about, to signify traveling to Another World.   
"But we have been here in Termina for some time." At the deepest heart of the matter, Serge was beginning to question himself. His purpose was not so clear, and it was difficult to decide where to move from where he was. "I am not sure what we should do now."   
"Harle is alive. The other Dragon gods are as well." Radius pointed out the singular fact that had kept the group together. "And if they are, the Omni-Dragon will follow. And after that... death."   
"I already explained to you, that I don't think that will happen." Serge had indeed spent hours trying to explain to his comrades what he had felt in those brief moments looking into the ancient White Dragon. But such talk only led to more grumbelings.   
"I undersand what you think you felt my boy. But children often let their emotions sway them back and forth." Radius, in all his professed knowledge, also could not grasp even the simpelest of Serge's plea for peace.   
"I guess we have got to kill at least one of the dragons then." Serge looked down into the water below.   
"You guess!?" Radius rapped Serge roughly on the back of his head with his staff. "Don't guess. Guessing gets people killed."   
"So what should I do then?"   
"Perhaps I can be of some help to you gentlemen." A female voice interjected into the conversation. Serge and Radius turned to look upon the bearer of the new voice. She wore a blue cloak over her body covering everything from the neck down. Her eyes were a deep blue like the cloth she wore, and her face held pretty curves and ageless smoothness. But most of all, moving about her face was her silver hair. She held the distant beauty that seemed easy to touch, but in reality was most likely difficult to grasp. Much like the allure of Harle, Serge noted.   
"Hello." Serge brought himself to speak. "You mentioned you can help us? How do you mean?"   
"Quick to the point aren't we?" The woman laughed lightheartedly for a moment and then continued. "You were inquiring about those wanted posters for Harle the harlequin, posted up all over Termina?"   
"Yes we were." Serge had hoped to speak personally with anyone who had memories of the dragons, without the help of the Dragon Tear gems.   
"Good." She extended a dainty and deceptive hand in greeting. "My name is Spirit." 

--- 

  
"Have you ever head of Sewqra?" Black asked Kidd with completely innocent intent. Harle rolled her large eyes. Though Black had been very careful to lavish an extravagant amount of attention on Harle, even in front of Kidd, Harle could not help but feel jealous whenever he would talk to Kidd.   
"Nah, not me mate. I never traveled in Teodorrin. Too untamed for my likin'."   
Several more days of traveling had past. In that time, Kidd seemed to fall into the group seamlessly. Her words and actions were completely devoid of any previous malice, and even Harle learned to trust her (somewhat). Amazingly enough, with the competition between them eliminated, they played off one another very well, at least from Blacks standpoint. The winter felt in the south around Geal and Furre had melted away as the group headed further and further north   
"We are almost there." Black commented distantly. The sky had fallen into view, and held its blue with diamond perfection. For most of the walk he had only seen the tops of the trees. Patches of blue and white sky occasionally past his view but little else. He always loved the sky, and he would often lay back and stare into it, amazed at its infinity. Finally the group had broken through the forest and into a small clearing and his beloved sky walked above him.   
"Are you alright, mon ami?" Harle caught him starring upwards again.   
"Yeah." Black shrugged a small embarrassed shrug. Harle thought she sensed a note of sadness in his tone and gave his forearm a quick squeeze. The touch was welcomed but unnecessary. And Black found his eyes wandering skyward again. "Look!" Blacks cry was not one of wonder, but of concern.   
"What? What?" Kidd threw her head back and looked all over the heavens for what Black could have been talking about. "Bugger!" A large black cloud was rising from the ground.   
"Smoke." Black was already running up and over the hill. Where there was smoke, there had to be fire. 

  
"Not good." Black was the first to speak. The girls could not bring words to their lips just as yet, as their mind struggled to formulate a response. A lonely mountain stood away from a long chain of other similar mountains. Obviously a rebellious rock, smoke billowed from its top in large gasping plumes. Soot leapt skyward in hopes of grasping the sun, but then only fell back towards the dirt like poisned snowflakes. All the black flurries fell upon a small village that had found its home in the base of the active volcano. Made of wood and dried leaves the town looked like a giant match waiting to be ignited.   
"Well at least it hasn't erupted." Kidd pointed out. Her optimism was painfully unlucky. Just then a low rumble shook the ground and the three upon the ground. Red glowing lava began to tumble over the top of the volcano while tiny rivers of molten rock gushed up through the stress cracks of the mountain.   
"Bah! You!" Harle slapped Kidd on the back of the head quite violently. But it was not the time for fun and games. People began rushing out of the village. There was no organization to their running, just meaningless chaos. Many just flew about amongst the same buildings screaming and gathering possesseions, whereas they should have evacuated the area all together.   
"Looks like we are going to have to give them some help." Black ran towards the volcano, grabbing his element grid and forming in his head a plan to slow the lava's progression. With an excited but dedicated gleam in her diamond eyes Kidd was right behind the black jester.   
Black ran straight up the mountain, as far along as he could before wading through magma. Unfortunately the mountain had not grown as high as it should have, giving the molten rock a very short trip to Sewqra village at the bottom. Calling forth a mighty Black Hole, Black managed to suck a great deal of lava into its vortex and send it deep down where no one could get to it. Summoning the same spell over and over, Black forced a perimeter around several buildings where the lava could not pass. But it kept coming in it's slow glowing march. And soon Black would be out of elements.   
Kidd was also doing her best, using her innate Red power to the best of its abilities. With ease she routed much of the magma away using well placed Fire Pillars. But whenever she would channel some away there would be twice as much there to take it's place.   
Lava began to strike buildings, tearing them down in moments. Fire burst forth from the wooden structures before they were swallowed whole by the molten earth. Harle was stunned and yet somehow intrigued at the scene before her. It seemed like a picture come to life. Two heroes battled back against impossible odds while the townsfolk ran about screaming and carrying on. As one who had her confidence in her immortality Harle stared at the humans peasants running about. Some had caught fire, or had lost a portion of the body due to the great glowing heat. It was a morbid curiosity that lead Harle to watch as the humans showed their true mortality. Perhaps that was it. To see humans as mortal beings, capable of pain and death, made Harle feel strange and it made her feel something else as well. It tickled a portion of her self still buried deep.   
"Harle!" Black shouted downwards down the mountain to the stilled harlequin. "Come on! Quick! Help!"   
"I cannot." Harle's response was too soft for Black to hear. But she did not need him to hear it. She could tell from her vantage point the two were fighting a loosing battle. The molten lava moved closer and closer in greater and greater volume. Their elements could only be used so often until Black and Kidd lacked the power needed to attack. And soon they would be covered in a lethal blanket of fire. Harle knew what she had to do. It would not be easy. But at least, it would save her friends. Concentrating deeply Harle retreated in her mind to a spot she had rarely visited any more. It was a special spot that the Dragon gods had shown her how to find. 

  
His wings were majestic and spread out thinly across the whole sky. Well, it felt to him as if he covered the whole sky. Far below the ground passed with great speed. But to him it did not feel like great speed. He was so high, he couldn't tell. His wings were not beating regularly. There was no need. For the sky currents carried him high, and carried him far. And each river of air was his to command. Up high in the atmosphere, the humans and even the dragons, seemed far and distant. Clouds puffed from his nostrils. Each glowing white, turning gray, raining, and dying like a vapor all within moments as he breathed in and out. His was the ultimate dragon power. He ruled the dragons without a challenger. No one could touch his might. Suddenly, there formed a sensation deep in his mind.   
"Yes Harle, child." He whispered into the wind.   
"Hmm." The sky dragon replied to the voice inside him. "I will not come. I am not a force to be summoned at will."   
"Don't try to condemn me with guilt child. I have no need of such emotion."   
"How dare you say something like that to me!"   
"Alright! Alright. I will be there in moments. But only this one time, child."   
With a singular flap the white dragon tore himself free from his mighty driving winds and spiraled earthward. 

  
"That's it." Black fell backwards with the his last breath escaping him. How had this happened? He wasn't supposed to be a hero. And the lava advanced upon him, reaching for him with hungry teeth.   
"Not yet mate." Kidd skipped across the unclaimed ground, leapt into the air and landed beside the exhausted Black. Pulling him to his feet with all the force she could muster up in her legs, she dragged him out of the lavas path. The village screamed as the orange and yellow death fell upon her buildings. But the two had tried for as long as they could. It was no use. No mere human could stop such a work of nature.   
"Look." Kidd poked Black with a weak tap. Her eyes were not focused in front at the village, but behind where Harle stood. Black turned silently to follow Kidd's gaze. Harle was surrounded with a glorious spinning light, that covered her and pulsed about her. It seemed as though a cloud had soaked up a part of the sun and then fell to the ground to clothe the harlequin. All at once the light vaporized into the air.   
"He iz coming." Harle stated to her expectant friends.   
"Who is co-" Kidd could not finish her words. A huge shadow blocked out the sun for a long moment. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT!?" Kidd shrieked. Her voice squeaked with the sudden surprise.   
"White Dragon." Black mumbled to himself, as he looked upon the king of dragon kind. Heaving out his chest the white dragon drew in a tremendous amount of air inside himself. With a sound much like a blast of wind, the White Dragon god expelled a great cloud over the entire mountain. At once the cloud turned a dark and agitated gray. And just as suddenly as the White Dragon appeared, the sky filled with cool rain. Only a few moments past as the rains fell with such furry even rivers and oceans would cringe away. And the lava was no match for the all encompassing cooling force. Steam bellowed out towards the clouds, but the smoke was rinsed from the sky. The soot that had stuck on the remaining buildings washed away to mud on the ground. Seeing his work complete, the White Dragon dropped down before Harle in a dramatic windy entrance.   
"Ah! Mon ami!" Harle ran towards the dragon and threw her arms around his neck.   
"Harle child." White Dragon accepted the gesture, but offered nothing in return.   
"You..." A man of the village stumbled out of the wreckage of his own home. "You are a hero! Have you descended from the heavens just to save us?" With the mention of the word hero, White Dragon's eyes widened just slightly. No human had ever called him that before.   
"Be thankful human, that there are creatures greater then you..." The White Dragon stretched out his wings, spreading shadow around him. "...and kinder." And with that the White Dragon god leapt up into the sky, and flew off. He left in Harle's mind a strict warning not to call on him again, unless it had to do with Spirit. But in the telepathic conversation Harle felt in the dragon a great warmth. For someone who had always loved peace, this must have felt terribly good. Harle knew, if she needed to, she could call on him anytime. But she would never admit this to the Dragon himself. 

  
"Miss Harle! Over here!" Someone shouted from behind her. It was a pitiful world, that existed without elements. Harle had taken her fill of healing elements from the coffers of the IPS Trojan Horse, and so now her "healing expertise" was in great demand among the injured villagers.   
"Oui oui. Coming." Harle looked down into the face of a child. His eyes were opened wide, but his pupils were tiny and his face distant. Though his hand lay in hers, it was stiff and lifeless, and cold. No Cure element could save him, for where he had gone. Such frail things, human children are.   
"Miss Harle!"   
"Oui!" Harle finally stood to her feet, wiping the dirt from her knees as she turned. It was one of the younger girls of the village, calling her over to an elderly gentleman who was breathing with precarious difficulty. "Coming. What iz it?"   
"He cant breath very well." She gestured towards the old man, and then went on her way. The center of town had taken on the roll of hospital, as there was no structure large enough to hold the twenty or so dead and dying. Luckily Sewqra was small. But that made even one casualty all the more felt amongst her people.   
"Bonjour." Harle knelt beside the man, a warm smile on her face. Her lips and cheeks hurt from the smile. It had been on her face for hours now. But it was the only shield she had against the agonizing stares she received from the victims.   
"D-Darling? Am I... d-dead?" He coughed a deep cough, and was still.   
"No mon ami. Not yet." And Harle touched her Cure element on her grid, gathering the energies into her left palm, and channeling it's worm moist glow into the mans lungs and body. His mouth opened, expelling a white shimmering vapor that disappeared after a few moments. And he fell into a peaceful rhythmic sleep.   
"Amazing." The voice was masculine and young. Harle stood up, and turned sideways to see the newcomer. He stood tall above her, sporting at least twenty years of life. His arms were thick and his face bright. Dangeling about his head in free flwoing two-inch bundles was his blood red hair. "I have seen another like you, helping us. Is he a friend of yours?"   
"Oui. He, and zhe loudmouthed one." Harle sighed, and let her smile fade a little. This man radiated responsibility, and she felt not need to appease him with empty faces. "Zhis is an awful mess. My deepest apologiez monsieur."   
"Apologies? Don't be foolish." He began to step away from Harle's latest patient beckoning her to come with him. "We are lucky you came along when you did. I saw you glowing before. I know it was you that summoned that... creature. You both will be remembered and talked about for a long, long time around here. My name is Mick. If you need anything I will do my best to help you."   
"Pardon?" Harle asked. "But could you anzwer a tiny question?"   
"Sure." Mick turned to give her his full attention.   
"Have you ever heard of zhe village Euore?" 

  
"Nah, sorry love, never heard of it." And he lifted his shovel and continued digging in the softened earth.   
"Bloody.... Ain't no one heard of this Euore place." Which left Kidd rather confused. She had gathered only a small amount of information from Black and Harle about their dual purpose and mission, regarding Euore. But if this tiny little shack town in the shadow of a volcano was the only lead they had, maybe following the jesters wasn't the best way to waste the rest of her life.   
"Don't stop now love." The old man, who was her partner for the afternoon, chided her along. "There are still plenty of holes to dig."   
"Bugger! Don't you guys believe in funerals?" Kidd asked with a slight edge of contempt in her voice. It seemed the dead bodies had barely cooled from the lava before the villagers set to work burying them.   
"Look around. We live under a volcano, in the middle of the wilderness eight days walk from the nearest town, and twelve days away from the nearest doctor. We gotta be strong love, or we ain't gonna survive this place." Kid glanced towards the oldster, her eyes flashing once. Beyond his skin strecthced over his bones, and his age drapping his body like a think cloak, Kidd began to admire him as she dug. 

  
Black stood amongst a small group of men huddled about a table at the far corner of the village. A crude map had been drawn on a wide piece of paper, and marks had been doodled all over the place. There were scribble marks where buildings had fallen and skull shaped symbols where the dead had become lodged in the dried lava. Tallies had been made and designs drawn as they struggled to assess the damage and begin plans for reconstruction.   
"Fourteen." Mick walked up to the group with a grim but collected face.   
"Fourteen." Black replied, crossing off a number twelve and writing a fourteen below it.   
"We are still blessed." An older member of the crew stated plainly. "All of us should have died."   
"We can't thank you enough. You and your friends." Mick clapped Black on the shoulder in a masculine congratulations. "You have only just arrived and already you have buried yourselves in our problems. Come, what business do you have here?"   
"That can wait." Black responded without a thought. "Your village is much more important then our purpose."   
"Mick! Mick!" A young boy no more then seven years old, came running up to the group. Mick moved among his people with power. And when they had questions, or statements of information, or they needed to cry they wold seek him out. The burden of Sewqra rested on him and his leadership skills.   
"What is it?" Mick knelt down before the boy, grasping both shoulders of the child..   
"Tatzuna wants to know what's going on."   
"Tell her that the death count is at fourteen, but we haven't found everyone yet. We have lost our food stores, and most of our excavation tools and about half of our homes. Can you remember that?"   
"Yes." The boy nodded vigorously. He handled the pressures of the adults well enough. "She also told me that she is going to talk a walk soon, and check out what's going on."   
"Very well." Mick stood up, and waved the boy to his task.   
"Tatzuna?" Black asked.   
"She is our village Shaman, my mother. She is the leader of Sewqra."   
"The leader?" Black could hardly hold back his response. "For a leader I haven't seen very much of her."   
"My mother," Mick did not sheath his intent. "is well loved here in Sewqra. She leads through me." 

  
Evening fell too fast on the mourning, mending town. Sewqra stumbled from its loss but the villagers pushed ever forward. There was no other direction left open to them. Mick made his presence know in force wherever anyone was working. But sometimes his responses wavered, when it came to decisions for good or ill. Youth had not released him completely, and responsibility had stunted his growth through experience. Tatzuna, the elderly woman who was supposedly the leader, had yet to show herself even into the evening. A fire had been built, out of some of the wreckage of some of the homes. It blazed brightly releasing spirits of hope to dance and mingle with the already present sense of loss. Around the fire a meeting had been called where the men and woman of the village would begin discussion on a long-term reconstruction plan as well as dividing up the jobs among those best suited for each. Among those at the fire Black, Harle, and Kidd watched with meager interest. All of the three had seen enough and wished for bed.   
"She is coming." Mick returned to the circle, and a large space was made for him. Slowly, a figure made her lonely way from a nearby doorway to the campfire. Trudging along, only her gnarled wooden staff seemed to keep her body aloft. Her frame leaned upon it obviously. Bent over with age the woman had seen many a sunrise, and many a disaster in her life. Her eyes were molded into a permanent squint, and her face peeked out from behind blotchy darkened spots of skin. She filled her clothes with ease, and tugged her body to the ground. But her laugh and smile balanced her and gave her the feel of a jolly grandmother. As she approached a hush of complete reverence fell over every soul. Even Kidd stopped her overbearing conversation after feeling the sensations of the Shaman, Tatzuna.   
"It is a terrible thing that happened today." Tatzuna rested her weary body on a log close to the fire. Every eye was on her, not one strayed. "But we are twice blessed. We were saved from the fullest wrath of the volcano, first by our new friends." She nodded a thankful nod towards Black, Harle, and Kidd. "They tried their very best, and thought nothing of putting themselves in danger for us."   
"The Dragon! Him too! Him too!" A child (who should have been put to bed some time ago), suddenly shouted with youthful vigor. The hands of his parents quickly clapped around his mouth, silencing his innocent disrespect. But Tatzuna only chuckled a chuckle that shook her whole frame.   
"Yes child, that is our second blessing. The heavens saw fit to send us a guardian spirit, to save us and watch over us. We will never forget this day." And with this comment Tatzuna drew in a breath to continue. "Thank you's aside, we are facing our most difficult hour my friends. The volcano, in its just furry saw fit to destroy all of our food stores. We have nothing left to eat, not even a single piece of fruit. Tomorrow we will have to begin hunting and gathering to save enough food to live on until the supply carts ... " And her words droned on in an elderly rambling pace. Black tugged gently on Harle's sleeve, and she in turn signaled to Kidd. Quietly the three left the campfire and made their way over to a more private spot behind a building. Seeing them leaving Mick also silently excused himself to join them.   
"Is everything alright?" He asked with genuine concern.   
"Oui." Harle responded instantly.   
"This is the business of your village, not our own." Black added. "We have to discuss our plans."   
"You have done so much for us, but we would appreciate it beyond measure if you could stay just a little longer." Mick's tone was pleading at best. How could he demand so much of the strangers?   
"We will talk about it." Black nodded. And Mick returned to the fire, to leave the three in peace.   
"So, what have we learned about zhis place?" Harle asked the group, her lips bent slightly up in her common permanent smile, but her tone serious and focused.   
"Nothing at all mate, 'cept these guys don't play around."   
"Oui." Harle smiled a response. "I have not heard anyzhing either. Zhe injured and zhe dead do not talk very much, non?"   
"I spoke to Mick a little." Black volunteered. "It seems that this place is a mining colony."   
"What do zhey mine?"   
"They mine something they call, Crag. I saw some of this Crag, and all it is volcanic rock dug straight from the side of this volcano." Black gestured off to his side at the towering, city killing, mountain. "The volcanic rock is a key ingredient to all Red Combat Elements."   
"Bugger! So these guys make Red Elements?"   
"No. They just harvest the raw materials. It looked to me like none of them have even seen an element before. Right Harle?" Black responded.   
"Oui. Zhey were amazed at mon healing elements."   
"And you'll never guess who owns this colony." Black made it sound more a sarcastic statement, then a question. "Porre."   
"Of course. Who else but the bloody Porre." Kidd's eyes clouded with frustration.   
"The Porre offer these miners complete autonomy, a life free among nature, and any supplies they need to survive. In exchange the villagers have to produce a certain amount of Crag per week. Every week a caravan of supply carts come to the town with supplies, and they leave filled with Crag. It's that simple." Black spelled it out all in a few moments, leaving the group to ponder the results in deathly silence.   
"So..." Harle finally ventured to mention the most important question on their minds. "What do we do? Shall we stay, or go?"   
"I asked everyone and their uncle about that Euore place of yours mate." Kidd shook her head back and forth. "No one's every even heard of it."   
"I've asked a bunch of people, including Mick, and no one had heard of Euore." Black added. "I cant figure out what Julia wanted us to find here." Black let his eyes wander across the faces of the villagers. Each man and woman gathered there bore the weight of the work ahead on their shoulders, and plainly on their faces.   
"Zhen if we stay, it iz for charity, non?" It was a logical thought.   
"I think we should stay. There is something here..." Black's eyes turned an angry distant shade. "... I just know it."   
"Oui. Zhen I will stay."   
"Well, I'm not goin' anywhere!" Kidd responded with fire. 

  
"So. We are on hunting patrol?" Harle and her friends walked through the woods near the village. Though the morning had just been born, sounds of work and the shouts of groups could be heard radiating from Sewqra.   
"Yeah." Black could not hold back a bounce in his step. Hunting had always been a pastime he reflected on with great pleasure. It was a chance for him to relax and focus his mind. Such natural balance, killing to eat, pushed Black further from humanity and closer to nature at its purest form. Prey would provide sport, but it carried a bit of life, no matter how small. Nothing escaped him, but he never killed without mercy or reason. "I think we should split up and each go hunting on our own." Kid was fun, and Harle was his love but hunting was his private time. Keeping them all separate kept his mind clear.   
"Hmm. Oui. Whatever you zay." Harle let her eyes wander across the woods and the fields that surrounded her. Wildlife seemed to be in bloom everywhere. "Zhe woods are full of life. It should not be too hard to find prey."   
"Ha! You!" Kidd finally chose this time to speak. "Little Ms. Circus Reject? You can't hunt."   
"Oui! I can hunt!" Harle protested with child-like tenacity.   
"Bugger. You couldn't eat anything he hasn't caught for you." With a thumb Kidd gestured Black, who wished to stay far from such an explosive conversation.   
"Bah. Childish. I can hunt better zhen you!" Harle replied without a second thought as to it.   
"I bettcha I can hunt more game then you by sundown." Kidd was smiling a radiant and compelling smile. Harle could only accept such an agreement.   
"Oui! Very well! You shall eat zhose words." Her feet made of feathers and cotton Harle dashed off into the deeper woods.   
"Be careful." Black warned. "There are allot of dangerous creatures out there." 

  
Its scent crossed her path almost immediately. Even still alive, it smelt appetizing to the dragoness. And Harle began to track the scent through the trees and grasses. Kidd had not counted on the fact that she possed superior smell. It would be an advantage Harle would push to its limit. She would teach the upstart Kidd a lesson in dealing with a dragon. And so for some time Harle followed the twisting wafting trail left by her prey so graciously. Her heart began to beat quickly, every step a calculated risk. To proceed too quickly could scare the animal she was chasing. To move slowly could allow the animal to escape. And then there were always the other hunters of the forests.   
All her work finally came together as she crept to a small forest clearing. Sitting in the clearing. licking its paws and ears was a rabbit. Brown with white speckles, the creature had grown up in the very woods Harle terspassed. Slowly and with the prowess of a tiger she moved from one bush to another, from one tree to another, careful that not even her shadow could be seen. Closer she crept, her throwing cards at the ready to make the precision kill. With one clean blow, she would lobe off it's head. And finally, she could not contain herself any longer and she leapt from her cover shouting a paralyzing whoop. But just before her hands released the cards and she was upon the rabbit she stepped in some mud and fell flat on her face. The rabbit, not more then a foot away hardly even flinched as it stood there watching it's supposed hunter.   
"Ha! You should be a ballerina." It was Kidd. She had been watching the whole time. Such a scene Kid could not have imagined in her own mind. The timming was comical, and would fuel many annoying comments in the near future. "My turn." And she leapt for the prize. But before she could reach it Harle grabbed her leg and pulled her down as well. "Bugger! Get ooof!" Kidd pushed with all her effort but the Harlequin girl was very strong. With little thought the bunny skipped off into the woods, amused at what it had witnessed but not enough to stay.   
"He iz mine!" And Harle bolted after it.   
"Get away from my bloody game, mate." Kidd was right on her trail.   
Harle managed to corner the rabbit up against a tree. With no where to escape the rabbit suddenly seemed to realize the predicament he was in. He stood with his fuzzy tail to the rounded and large oak tree behind him. His eyes darted about for a way out and Harle stood above him, her arms extended ominously.   
Suddenly the tree burst into flames and a small explosion threw both Harle and the rabbit several feet in the air.   
"Missed." Kidd threw down a spent Pillar element.   
"Kidd!" Harle jumped to her feet, clapping off the dust she had collected. "You almozt killed moi!"   
"Yeah?" Kidd was too busy tracking the rabbit as it tore across an open field and shot down into its burrow that had been burrowed in the very center of the field. "Geeze. It's gone in a hole" Kidd ran up to the hole, looking into the black emptiness of it. Harle was right behind her, sharing in the equal disappointment.   
"Okay, we cannot get zhis rabbit on our own, non?" Harle stated.   
"No, er yeah." Kidd replied with a sure nod.   
"Shall we join together zhen? We can each take half of zhe rabbit when we are done."   
"Deal."   
"Good. Do you have any ideaz to get zhis thing out of itz hole mon amie?"   
"I know!" And like the rabbit itself, Kidd ran off. "Just keep an eye out on the hole and make sure it doesn't try to escape or something." 

  
"It zeems kind of..." Harle searched for an appropriate phrase to define Kidd's trap. "... old fashioned, non?" It was a box held up on a forked stick. A small carrot was placed under the box and tied tightly and taunt to the stick holding up the box.   
"No way mate! This trap always works. Me and me mates the Dreamers used ta do it this way all the time, no problem! Now we just go back behind that tree over there, and wait for the littler bugger ta come out and have himself a taste of the ol' carrot." And with those reassuring words the two found their hiding spots. It was not long until the sound of the box falling, let the hunters know their inferior prey had fallen for such a simple trap.   
"See?" Kidd beamed at the fallen box. "I told ya." Without a single thought of caution Kidd shoved the entirety of her hand into the box. A look of pure shock overtook her as a tear drop slid down her face. Slowly she pulled out her hand, that had been decorated with a healthy handful of porcupine quills.   
"I didn't know zhat porcupines ate carrots." Harle responded trying to hider her giggling laughter. Kidd just stood there silently holding out her throbbing hand and waiting for Harle to give her some help to remove the quills. As soon as the spikes were pulled carefully free, Kidd pulled out two handfuls of red elements and prepared to drop them down the rabbits hole.   
"I'm going ta kick that things arse so hard it'll kiss the moons!"   
"Non!" Harle threw her arms around the insane thief, preventing her from dropping such destructive force. "We have to bring some of it back." Promptly the rabbit stuck its head up from it's hole and bit Harle in the foot, before retreating instantly into it's home. "Owwwwwowowowwww!!!" Harle let out her meowing cry as she danced about on one foot. "... I will... KILL IT!" It was Kidd's turn to do the restraining.   
"No mate! MATE!" She shook Harle roughly to return her to normal. "You're right! We gotta bring some of the meat back to the village." 

  
"Ya sure you can do it clown?" Kidd asked as Harle balanced a Gravity Blow element on the tip of her finger.   
"Oui. It iz no problem."   
"Alright." Kidd smiled a devilish glowing smile. This rabbit would never see what hit him. "Lets do it."   
And with that Harle turned her Free Fall onto herself, warping the energies of the element around her body. With a severe sucking sound Harle rocketed skyward, hundreds of feet into the air. Kidd dropped the carrot right at the rabbit's hole and hoped the rabbit was quick to come out. Indeed, the rabbit secure in its own skill, emerged almost immediately from his rabbit hole. For several long moments all that could be heard was the breeze of the afternoon and the soft and peaceful crunching sounds of the rabbit enjoying another free meal at the expense of its merciful benefactors.   
Harle folded her arms back, and dipped her head forward, going into a power dive. Though the forest was nothing but a gigantic green blanket below her, she could easily see the small clearing that held the rabbit's hole. The wind twisted bout her body, tugging at her head dress and any other flaps of clothing not sewn onto her costume. Closer she fell, as the rabbit hole finally became visible, though nothing more then a pinhole in the distance below her. Holding her arms out expectantly, and squeezing her Gravity Ball (her only hope of stopping comfortably at such a speed) Harle was nearly upon her prey. He would never suspect an attack from above!   
"CAWWW!" A black crow suddenly cut the horizon and slammed mindlessly into Harle's side. The harlequin flew out of control, falling directly onto Kidd who had been hiding beneath some brush. With that, the rabbit let out a little belch, and returned to its rabbit hole.   
"Good aim there.... m-mate...." Kidd was feeling a mite woozy all of the sudden.   
"It waz not mon.... fault....!" And it was lights out for Harle. 

  
The sun fell towards the ground, spewing forth its evening rays as a last attempt to color the sky. Black looked about the village as he continued to skin a large deer he had captured. He noticed that his Harle, and Kidd had not yet returned. As soon as this worry crossed his mind, his Heart Gem began to pulse, and Harle with Kidd emerged from the forest. They were covered in dirt, and sweat... and soot. And between them they carried the charred remains of a single rabbit.   
"Good hunting?" Black asked with unfair sarcasm. But he could not contain his laughter for very long.   
"Shut up, bloody harlequins are all the same." And Kidd spat on the ground beside her. "Where'd all that meat come from?"   
"What? All this?" Black signaled the piles of meet and skins that littered the ground all around him. "Not a half bad hunt, huh?"   
"You caught all zhis?" Harle asked in amazement.   
"Yeah." Black shrugged in a false modesty. "What can I say? I guess I'm just the best hunter that ever lived."   
"Looks like yer mate there won the game." Kidd pointed to Black with her free hand.   
"Oh well, no hard feelings ladies." And with that he set back to work as Kidd and Harle tried to explain the days events. But they elicited only laughter where they had hoped for understanding. 

  
"It's been awhile since I've gotten you alone like this." Black's voice was smooth and soft, and pleasing to her ears as the two strolled leisurely along. Night had progressed evenly, for some time but neither one of them noticed. They just walked along through the woods enjoying each other in such a lonely setting.   
"Oui." Harle agreed. Black's arm weaved gently around her even as they walked. She enjoyed his touch, having been in need of it, even as soon as they had left their little apple tree and their cliff. Kidd had gotten in the way of these little romantic excursions the last few attempts, but with Kidd finally asleep the two had all the time in the world.   
"I have been thinking about you, very often."   
"I know." Harle responded with a purring gentleness. Every time her mind had wandered onto Black, she would look down and see her gem glowing. And she knew that somewhere nearby Black was thinking about her as well. "I zhink you are obsessed, mon ami."   
"Not as much as I would like to be." The statement had more to it, then he had first realized when he had said it. But Harle felt the undertones of his voice. She knew what he was thinking.   
"Here." She stopped the walk for a moment, pulling out a small item. It was wrapped in a piece of white cloth, to preserve it as she waited for the right time to give it to him. "I made it for you." And she unwrapped the gift, pulling a small cookie from amongst the cloth. Vanilla colored, the cookie released a sugary smell. Small, and lumpy with imperfection the cookie looked up to Black with the same hope in Harle's eyes. Black looked upon the gift, as though gazing at the most precious of treasures ever given up by the ground.   
"Where did you get the ingredients for it?" He lifted the delicate dessert into his hand, careful not to loose a single crumb of it.   
"I sold some of mon elementz to zhe villagerz. Zhey managed to give me what I needed for zhis one cookie."   
"Harle...." He looked down at his treat, and he could hardly hold on to it. "... thank you."   
"Ah-ah-ah." She shook her index finger back and forth just in front of his nose. "Zhis is a gift between friendz, mon ami. It doez not mean anyzhing."   
"Then you have to share it with me." Black insisted, carefully breaking the slightly rigid snack in two. "Please."   
Harle took a half from his hand, the smaller half but she was glad to ignore it. Quietly the two placed their portions into their mouths. Having eaten nothing but meat and cheap tavern food for weeks, this taste was like unto solidifying a portion of Heaven into a scrap of food.   
"I love you Harle." Black admitted again.   
"I know." She responded with a slight grimace.   
"Why do you not love me back?" His voice was still completely even and cool.   
"I cannot." Her eyes tore away from his gaze, and began to search the forest for something more comfortable to look at. "I do not know anyzhing about you. You tell moi, you love moi, but I do not even know who you are, behind zhe makeup and zhe coztume. You are hiding too much, for moi to give you such a preciouz gift."   
"I..." Black turned his back on Harle, grasping at his face with a frustrated hand. "I cannot tell you yet. It is not the right time. And it will be a difficult thing for me to say, and for you to hear. I promise Harle, as soon as you learn what happened at Euore, and as soon as you find out about your early life, I will show you everything about me." And Black stood there, his body still turned away. He expected her to leave him alone. Why shouldn't she? He could not tell her anything, but that he loved her. What good was that? A soft touch caressed the back of his neck and he turned. Instead of leaving Harle drew herself closer. Finally, she saw that the perfect Black, had his own torment to deal with. Both sets of beautiful eyes locked together, and emotion beyond what either had ever felt beat once between them. Without even realizing what they were doing, their bodies began to inch closer and closer together. Their lips moved towards one another. Just before they touched, they could move no longer. A barrier could be felt between them. For whatever reason, they could not bring themselves together for that first kiss.   
"I promise Harle.' Black released her. "As soon as you learn about yourself, I will show you everything." And the two departed silently back towards Sewqra. 

  
The next morning Harle felt playful, and she was having a difficult time binding herself to one project or job. Instead she found herself wandering about the ailing village playing jokes on people and generally amusing herself. And the time passed by reasonably. Black watched her from his place, sewing makeshift tents to house those who no longer wished to live three families in a hut. It annoyed the young harlequin girl, that every time she thought of Black, and looked down at her gem, it was glowing. Did he really think about her that much? She most certainly was not worth such time.   
No one in the village seemed to mind that Harle had not begun her tasks. The morning was fresh and the smell of soot and sulfur had almost gone from the air. Every once in awhile the volcano would let our a little rumbling belch and spew out a stink of brimstone, but that was the extent of it now. It seemed the furry of the mighty mountain had decayed after just one little tantrum.   
Harle tossed herself down into a sitting position, beneath a tree in a more isolated part of town. A village of only fifty or so people, really emptied out when the hunters went hunting. There wasn't barley fifteen people in view as Harle watched the village move and mend before her. Kidd was probably still asleep, the lazy human. And Black would not wake the girl. And Harle glanced down. Yes. Her gem was glowing. And her fists tightened. Suddenly a portion of the forest bent aside and a man stumbled out into the village. His clothes were tattered and his lungs were starved for air as he panted along. And finally after taking a few labored steps he collapsed.   
"Someone help!" She shouted, rushing over to the fallen man. He wore what looked to be a Porre uniform and this deterred her from touching him straight away. Black was next to her instantly, followed shortly after by two or three women of the village who had been sewing with Black nearby.   
"Come on!" One of the woman shouted. "Lets get him inside and get him some water. He's exhausted."   
Black took one arm, and one of the women took the other and they dragged him into the largest shelter available, Tatzuna's hut. Tall and shapped into a dome, the structure stood tallest and roundest in the village. Sticks woven together and held up by tall rods comprised the roof, while bricks stood circular below giving foundation. Tatzuna was asleep in the corner, resting upon perhaps the only bed and mattress in the entire village, or even the entire forest. Despite the sleepy absence of the elder, Mick tended the soldier, and tried to dredge up the meaning of his sudden appearance.   
"The! The c.... c...." Now awake the soldier was trying to speak. Obviously something urgent had drove him so quickly to the village. "caravan!" He finally sputtered.   
"Hush! You need your rezt!" Harle examined her grid, touching a Heal element and preparing to channel it to the soldier.   
"No." Mick responded to Harle's delicate suggestion. "Tell us, what happened? Are you with the supply caravan?"   
"Ye...yes.." The soldier let a small and distant grin cross over his face, as the Heal element made it's way through him. "We were ambushed, by some... bandits... they slaughtered everyone... trying to steal supplies..." Fire touched Mick's face before it fell to rigid lines. The implications of such an attack on the life of the village, stood apparent to all present, him especially. Finally, he nodded as if reaching a conclusion and he stepped up to the hut's doorway. Before he exited he gestured for Black to follow him and the two left the hut.   
"Black, do you have any idea how precious those supplies are to us?" Mick asked, his face distraught as his mind fed on every possible fear. "Even if our village had been burned to the ground, we could still have survived. But without those supply carts we cant survive here."   
"What are you saying?" Black already guessed Mick's actions and request, but allowed the man to speak his mind.   
"Please, all the strongest fighters are out hunting, we need your help."   
"You are very dependent on the help of strangers aren't you?" Black did not attempt to hide his disgust, as he had done before. Despite his appearances Mick had a soft backbone, perhaps having never tasted the venom of true troubles. How could a child, who claimed to be an adult lead these people in success? If he was next in line to rule this village, Sewqra may not last that much longer.   
"I know, you have done so much for us..." Mick admitted. His face turned away, but his eyes remained hopeful.   
"We will help you." Black finally agreed, more for the peoples sake then for Mick's. "But that's it. We are leaving tomorrow."   
"Whatever you say." Mick nodded a thank you, and left without saying another word. Squeezing the bridge of his nose with two gloved fingers, Black just shook his head. He hadn't wished to leave so early but he and his girls were being pushed too hard for strangers who had just wandered into the village and who had no stake in anything that went on in Sewqra. "Harle?" Black poked his head back into the hut and called for the jesteress. "I'm going to wake up Kidd, and then we've got a new job to do."   
"Oh goody." Harle's eyes rolled as she stood. Her feet still dragged lazily as she left. She was tiered of jobs.   
Mick watched from a distance as the three gathered together, checked their elements, cleaned their weapons and spoke of strategy and plans. They conferred with a rather knowledgeable villager that told them the path the carts usually took, as well as the kinds of bandits in the area. Black did his best to bolster seriousness in the task at hand, speaking in inspiring manors and cleaning his battle fan blades with dramatic, priedfull motions. Standing beside him, a single eyebrow raised on Harle's face as she watched the dark jester. Her foot tapped and her arms crossed in front of her chest. She asked, more then once, if the job would take very long. Her mind was already hours past the current situation and it bored her to dwell upon it. Kidd smiled, swinging her dagger about as she jabbered to everyone and no one. Perhaps she was too hasty for her own good.   
Mick did not look on in pleasure, but with great buried distress. The world was changing so fast. Things once thought to be always safe and constant and untouchable, became far too mortal and delicate for his taste, as soon as everyone began looking to him for guidance and leadership.   
After watching the three leave, Mick made his way to a smaller and more isolated hut. Running his hands once of his shirt, to push out the wrinkles he opened the door. There was only one man inside, with long white hair and an exotic dagger at his side.   
"Ah hello there Mick. I hope that you have carried out your part of the deal?" It was Spirit. He stood up in greeting to Mick as Mick entered.   
"Yes." Mick did not like the taste of this man. "They are all on their way down the paths. Now what about your half of the deal?"   
"Not yet." Spirit shook his head back and forth slightly. "You will get your supplies, when I get my trophy." And with that Spirit stepped around Mick, giving the leader a slight brush. Spirit moved with perfection and spoke with hidden intent, obvious on his tongue but not in pracitce. How one man could have stolen an entire caravan's worth of supplies was a question Mick hoped he would never find the answer to. But whatever the reason, it didn't matter. Mick was at this man's mercy until the supplies were safely tucked in his supply houses. 

  
"How far are these bloody carts supposda be?" Kidd asked, jogging ahead and then waiting for the others to catch up like a happy puppy. It had been so long since she could match skills with any fighter, especially since she had given up on Harle.   
"I don't know." Black responded. His words were short. He was hunting. But neither girl new it, for he moved with normal motions. The forest sang songs around him, telling him where prey was hiding, but not the prey he desired. And the song continued as they progressed. Every trace of humor fled from the hunter ... save the costume he wore.   
"I don't smell anyzhing." Harle added. And she thought she was bored before. Now, it was safe to say a long hike through the woods was definitely not on her fun-list. "Wait." Something crossed her nostrils. It was the smell... of blood.   
"I smell it too." Black already had his grid in his hand. "Lets go." 

  
The carts had fallen into a disaster of pure precision. Seven carts, once tall and proud upon the forest wilderness had been minced into blocks of wood and death. Some held great implosions on their sides as if a great giant had kicked the things over. Others had thrown up their contents onto the ground in great rotting piles of food and innards. Fires had burnt themselves to death days ago, leaving only skeletons of deceased wagons, and the bones of the riders. Instant death by fire. Carrion birds and creatures of the forests had nestled down into the feast, carrying off on their shoulders all that fate granted them. Not a single cart stood upright, every wheel had been splintered and every cargo box tossed without regard. Blood soaked the ground, the trees, the forest. Death claimed the air, turning it fowl with a single touch. Hanging from tree branches and plastered to trees, as well as laying on the ground in piles there were body parts. Arms, legs, heads, human slaughter that caused Kid to gag, and turn to releave her stomach behind a tree. The flies calimed her vomit, along with the bodies. No one had been spared, not even the horses.   
"The supplies..." Kidd was the first to notice. "All the supplies are still in the bloody carts!"   
"She'z right! Nozhing waz stolen!"   
"I don't like the smell of this." Black took his attention away from the dead and unmoving scene and began to scan the forest. "Look out!" He dived for Kidd but it was too late. A silver tipped dart struck her silently on the neck. Though she pulled it out quickly the toxin on its tip already tore into her. And she fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.   
"N.... no worries mates... I'm not dead...." Harle was tending to her instantly, but she had no Purify elements and there was little she could do. Shivering and heaving in unconscious breaths Kid lived. The toxin had only knocked her down, and for now it let her live. "... bugger ... these guys don't .... fool around...."   
"Shush." Harle stood over the fallen creature, craddeling her in a maternal stance.   
Another dart flew from a hiding spot in the forest but Black plucked it from the air easily, snapping it and throwing it aside.   
"Your trick won't work again." Black called to whomever was stalking them. As if to answer Black's display of skill, a spray of darts flew towards him. Moving his hands about at invisible speeds Black caught them all between his fingers. But there was one last one heading straight for his forehead. He couldn't reach it in time. Harle's red gloved hand caught it instead just inches from him.   
"Enough of zhis. Show yourzelf." Harle challenged the stealthy but ill-equipped hunter.   
"I see you both are indeed worthy of my time." A voice replied with a laughing tone.   
"... non ..." Harle's eyes widened in the purest of fear. She knew that voice.   
"Hello there my dear sweet little Harlequin." The sun parted ways and Spirit stood high on a tree branch. "Oh, and company of course." He bowed slightly in mock chivalry.   
"Non-non-non-non..." Harle was shacking her head, stepping backwards even to the point of stumbling over the dead and the rubbish.   
"Harle." Black responded quietly and with deadly poise. "We can take him Harle. Listen to my voice. We can do this." Black unfurled his battle fans with a quick flick, swininging his arms about once before bringing each weapon to a defensive stance. "But I need your help."   
"Go get 'em.... mates.... " Kidd whispered from below them. "I'll be up in a... minute..."   
"Very well. I shall have to teach both of you a lesson at once." And Spirit dropped to the ground.   
"Non!" Harle suddenly found herself. "Zhis iz not how it will end." And she drew a full deck of throwing cards.   
With a shout together Black and Harle moved in towards the undefeated and undeniable enemy before them. Spirit stepped about and met Black's fans with his hideous Dragon Spirit dagger. Pushing off both spread blades at once Spirit leapt backwards onto the side of a tree and sprang off the tree to land behind Black. His feet cleared the tree just as a volley of cards sliced the bark to a fine mulch.   
Now behind Black, Spirit leapt forward to stab the unguarded harlequin. But Black was ready, swinging his arms about his back and deflecting the stab. Ducking and spinning about Black found himself facing his enemy again, and the two clashed together. One fan to the dagger, Black made a low sweep with the other fan. Befor flesh contact was made, Spirit pushed the harlequin back. Black ran up the side of one tree, as Spirit followed slicing the tree in two with his dagger. Behind them both was a trail of reluctant cards failing to hit their marks. The two were too mingled while they fought and Harle was loosing her confidence. One wrong throw and she could end Blacks life by mistake. Suddenly the two separated and Spirit was clear. Harle threw seven cards out in a fan spray, each destined for their target. They struck with a horrible accuracy, cutting deep into Spirit and spraying out blood as they ate away his flesh. One by one Spirit yanked the cards clean of his body, tossing them aside like normal playing cards. Blood flowed from his chest and arms and legs but the wounds seemed too mild to slow him.   
"You will have to do better then throwing cards, little clown girl." And Spirit ran at her, his dagger high. Harle leapt up, using Spirit's head as a spring-board and somersaulting onto a tree branch. But Spirit was right behind her, leaping up to catch her heel. His hand never made it that high. Black flew up and smashed Spirit back down to the ground with his a kick to the skull.   
"Gah... You are becoming bothersome my little black gnat." Spirit uttered the last words with exaggeration. But Black stood before him, unopposed and unafraid.   
"You talk to much." Black replied, and ran at the fallen Spirit. Just before Black brought his fans down onto his opponent, Spirit spun his arm around and threw a fist full of dirt up into Black's face. Clawing at his eyes with great frustration and intensity Black tried to clear the damage. Stumbeling about with no-hopes of agility, Black moved and rubbed. And Spirit was on his feet, and his kick was quick and accurate. Spirit's foot landed directly on Blacks cheek, sending the jester spinning and flying through the air with terrible velocity. Skidding and bumping Black finally came to a landing, several yards from where he had been standing.   
"Black!" Harle called out, but it was no use. 

  
"They are not fairing well." A figure drenched in shadow spoke upwards to his leader. Both, along with a horde of other shadowed individuals watched the fight hidden amongst the trees.   
"I see it." His leader, had a familiar voice but was too deep in the shadows to be seen.   
"Shall we move in?"   
"No."   
"But sir-"   
"No."   
"Yes sir."   
Just hold on, friends, I know you can do it. You must do it. 

  
"Now come Harle, you have let your friends play long enough. It's your turn." And Spirit was in the air. With a fluid motion he cut the branch that Harle had been resting upon. But it fell alone. Harle had already moved to a higher branch. Back and forth the two went, climbing higher and higher into the trees. The little jesteress, scampered and leapt with fear apparent. Never had she run from a nemesis, never had she shyed from a task at hand. Was the fear of death, of realizing her own mortality that unnerving? Truly? For she had found an opponent she could not best. And in the past that meant only one thing. Death.   
Harle began to launch Gravity Blows down towards the pursuing Spirit. But the slow moving elements were an ease to dodge, at best. Spirit gained ground on her, and soon she was going to run out of tree. With that in mind Harle abandoned the tree, cutting through the air with a perfect elegance. Her joints, and her body flowed like forest dear as she cascaded to the ground.   
"NOT SO FAST!" Spirit launched a powerful Photon Beam down after Harle. It tore the ground with its forceful power and tracked her motion as she ran. Finally, it impacted against her sending a splash of white elemental energies about the forest.   
Pulling herself to her feet, Harle wished she could summon forth her dragon form somehow. She could not bring herself to talk about it with Black, hoping it was a freakish one time occurrence. But now she wished she had, though she wondered instantly if Black would have even given her any solid information.   
"Bah. Itz hiz fault I'm trapped here." Harle drew her second deck of cards.   
For several minutes it became a game of chase as Harle worked to stay ahead of Spirit. She needed the distance to make her card throwing effective but that was one luxury he would not allow. One card flew, then another, and another, and her hands were empty fists pulling her forward. Her fingers traced her elements, she had plenty to use but Spirit was no pathetic wandering monster. This maneuver would require tactical finesse. A plan came to mind, difficult, just the way Harle liked them. An all encompassing trap, to trap the agile stalker Spirit.   
"Hmm. You run fazt mon ami. Letz zee you dodge zhis!" And Harle let forth a blast of ice cold water, her Deluge element was the first to be used. Walls of ice cradling freezing water tore through the forest directly into the oncoming Spirit.   
"Too slow!" And he leapt into the air without trouble. The water gushed by below him with all the danger of a babbling brook. Harle activated her second element, willing to grant Spirit a few moments of comfortable gloating. A blast of lava shot up through the midst of the water, turning to stone instantly. Her Magma Burst turned into a pointed stone stalagmite that jutted out from the forest and the water. "You are wasting your time Harle." Spirit smiled a wicked smile as Harle leapt up to meet him in the air.   
"Oui?" She asked, partially crushing an element she had hidden in her palm. "Zhen I offer you zhis parting gift to remember moi by." And she threw the activating element towards Spirit. Unsure of her plan he caught the element, realizing only to late it was cracking and spilling. The Gravitonne element tugged him violently downward. Harle's aim was to the fullest of perfection as Spirit plummeted towards the pointed lava pillar. Death sat at the tip of the pointed stone lance, opened armed. But instead of fighting the pull Spirit went with it holding his dagger out in front. With a solid show of force Spirit brought his dagger down onto the tip of the Magma Burst stalagmite and crushed it into a powder. Soon Harle's elements faded away and only the two fighters, and the forest remained.   
"Very close." Spirit brushed off some of the dirt and the sweat that covered his face. "I am impressed. But you see, any element you use against me is far beyond useless." 

  
"Impressive." The underling was trying to alleviate the tension his leader obviously expressed.   
"Don't defend her." His leader responded quickly. "She should know, only her own power will defeat him. No magic."   
"Sir, she is out of options. She is not going to make it. And if she dies, I don't have to tell you that...well, that... Finishing the sentence was unnecessary.   
"Very well." The leader replied with a stiff nod. "Go in, and give this to Lamby. I'm sure she will appreciate it."   
"As you command!" And he took the small crystal, departing instantly. 

  
Spirit threw his fist forward, making contact with Harle in the stomach and sending her several feet up into the air with the blow. The air escaped Harle's lips in a single gasping exhale. She could not run, and she could not fight. Hope was far in the distance for her. And all Kidd could do was watch it all. Kidd wished for a moment that Spirit had shot her full of poison instead of some sort of paralyzing toxin. Then at least she wouldn't have to watch the brutal beating that Spirit was about to lavish upon Harle.   
Harle tried to stand and run, but Spirit was on her instantly. With a kicking blow Harle flew again, this time screaming as her ribs easily cracked and broke away. One false move now and her lungs would pop like imperiled balloons.   
"Here Lamby, good luck." Someone from behind Kidd suddenly whispered. And he dropped an element down beside her. Just as quietly and quickly as he came whoever was behind her left. Kidd thought about calling after him, but noticing what kind of element she had been given, she decided to place all her strength into using the crystal.   
"Hold on... mate..." Kidd pulled with all her might on her left arm, lifting it, dragging it clumsily on to her stomach. "... I'm... commin'...." And her fingers wrapped lightly around the element. For several agonizing moments she squeezed on the delicate crystal. Finally there was a gratifying crackle as the crystal shattered and expelled its energies. It was a Purify element. As her skin glowed a faint white a smile began to crawl its way onto Kidd's lips. 

  
"Enough of this." Spirit commented. Minutes had past and beating the harlequin was a game he grew tired of. And his real job had yet been completed. "It is a pity, you were such poor sport. At least your Red Dragon had me going far longer then this."   
"You... you got him?" Harle asked. She was sitting propped against a tree, trees on either side and only Spirit in front.   
"Yes, and Yellow Dragon. I have been very busy." Each trace of sarcasm stung Harle's face like a fist of salt. "Only you, White Dragon and Black Dragon remain my little friend. Oh, I am looking forward to meeting White Dragon. He will be quiet a challenge. And your Black Dragon friend, has really hidden himself away well. At least..." And he was just inches from her now, his dagger at the ready. "... they will be more fun then you."   
"YAAAH!" Kidd moved between, just a blur. Her actions threw Spirit's awarness round about, but he still managed to doge most of her blade by throwing himself back. Kidd was skilled at her creed and Spirits fighting arm suffered a deep gash. Most of his ligaments and tendons were severed causing his arm to go limp at the elbow as he grabbed it with his free hand. The Dragon Spirit Dagger flew a few feet behind him, prolonging his task of capturing the beast girl.   
"Kidd!"   
"Don't worry mate." Kidd stood defensively in front of Harle, beconing the wandering Spirit to her. "This wont take long."   
"You! I am getting very tired of your little friends Harle! This time, I wont make the mistake of letting you live." Spirit flipped backwards, picked up his dagger and thundered forward to meet Kidd. But Kidd would prove to be a much better knife fighter then Black had been. She matched the Dragon hunter move for move, having been born with a dagger in her hand. Clashing back and forth the two moved about the forest. Trees fell and leaves shook loose as the two powerful fighters met, quickly retreating before charging in for more.   
"Enough of this nonsense." Spirit began to touch the jewels on his daggers hilt. His body took on an intense white aura. Power oozed from him in excess, swirling breezes through the trees. " I haven't had to do this in battle yet, but apparently I underestimated you."   
"What's going on?" Kidd called to Harle, hoping the clown would have some insight onto the sudden burst of energies.   
"I don't know!" Harle shouted back.   
"It's very simple. I can call upon the powers of a Dragons soul that I have captured in my dagger. Say good night, princess." And with that, Spirit launched an Omega Blue attack. The ground rumbled and the skies warped as the waters of the element focused all their power, and blasted straight into Kidd. Her fire quenched, Kidd was thrown clear of the battle, leaving only Harle and Spirit once again. But Harle did not waste time on thought of useless strategy or hoping for another friend to intervene. Instead she took the only course of action left to her. And she plunged ahead straight for her grim reaper. With a severe backhanded strike Harle flew. But she stayed where she lay, waiting for the end to come.   
"Harle, I wont waste my chance again. Who knows what other little friends you have running around the forest." And Spirit summoned all the strength of his dagger, running in for the kill. But just before he made it to her, Black and Kidd leapt into his path. Both beaten and badly injured they threw their bodies towards him hopping to slow him down. Without much effort at all he caught them both by their necks and lifted them into the air. "How wonderful! I can finish you both off right now! I will crush your throats and feed your bodies to the pigs." Spirit laughed with victory as he began to squeeze.   
And the bad feeling came.   
Harle suddenly let out an inhuman screeching roar that echoed through the forest and forced birds into a mad flight. Her body floated upwards, and suddenly became cased in a sphere of pure white light Yellow wings burst forth, followed by another roar of half woman, and half beast. The egg of light shattered and Harle was left flapping her wings, in full Purple Dragon force.   
"What is this...?" Spirit dropped his two quarries without a second thought. "I never knew you could transform! How delightful!" For some reason Spirit seemed happier then he had been just a moment ago. "At last! A real fight to test my skills. In celebration of this form of yours Harle, I shall call upon all the power of all the Dragons captured so far! Prepare yourself..." And his body surged with power. "... to feel my wrath!"   
Harle threw herself skyward but fully charged by his dagger Spirit rocketed after her. His own power propelled him in solid flight. The skies suddenly turned a deep lavender as blue and red bolts of lightening began to swirl the heavens about. Suddenly the energies of the sky struck Harle and she gathered them up into her mouth. With one screaming blow out, she released her Omega Purple. But Spirits terrible dagger cut through the beam of raw power, sending it flying out on either side of himself as he moved forward. As soon as Harle's elemental power had been exhausted, Spirit made himself ready for the kill.   
And the dagger found its mark. With a cry of fear, and of surprise Harle looked down at her chest. The dagger was firmly placed between her ribs, and she could feel a violent and torturous pain tearing apart her very soul. Her body began to shudder as her essence fought to resist the daggers effect.   
"This has gone on long enough." A new comer with a smooth and familiar voice suddenly wrapped his arm about Spirits head. With a sharp twist Spirit's neck snapped, and the hunter fell limp to the earth. Just before Harle lost herself to the dagger, the new comer yanked it free. And she fell to the ground, turning back to her humanoid form before landing in Black's waiting arms.   
"Hello again Black." Juku landed next to Black with complete silence, holding the bloodied Dragon Spirit.   
"Juku." Black stepped back, fearing the dagger that Juku held so easily.   
"Do not fear me, harlequin. I was summoned here to help you and your friend Harle. Come. Let us go back to Sewqra and see about getting you some bandages. You all look pretty beat up." 

(Note: No, its not almost over. In case I don't update in time to satisfy you, understand there is still much more to be told.) 

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	15. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 14

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 14 – "A Call to Fill a Shared Promise" -=- 

  
"Where are they now?" Juku asked as he stepped through the village. His warriors were with him, silent and vigilant. Whenever they were out of Geal, it was enemy territory.   
"They are in Tatzuna's hut." Kimjuku was with him. Having just passed her rites of passage she could not possibley be kept from journeying with her older brother. Instantly she became his right hand. "They are acting so cute." She added, a little out of character for a Hand of the Forest.   
"How so?" Juku asked, interested to hear how Harle, Black, and Lamby had done after the fight.   
"Silly things really." Kimmie spoke with composure, but her teenaged pleasure could not help but peek through. "They are trying to feed each other soup, and they are making the biggest fuss. But Tatzuna is delighted to have such energy near her."   
"Excellent."   
"Shall we visit with them?" She asked with a hopeful edge.   
"There is much work to be done, both for them, for those of this village, and for us as well." Juku turned his walk towards the largest hut in the mending village. "There is no better time to start then now." 

  
"Ah! Ah! Stop it!" Black was sitting back as Harle dangled a ladle of steaming soup dangerously over Black's lap. "That's hot!" And sure enough her arm had not mended enough to hold the soup spoon steady and it fell in a spray across the black harlequin. Once the soup hit him, Black became engaged in an exotic dance. He jumped about fanning his crotch before doubling over from his injuries, and then fanning himself again. His danceing continued about the hut as Tatzuna laughed from her bed and clapped. She sat cross legged, watching her young guests with great delight. In the corner Kidd sat, with a general look of nausea as the two clowns made idiots of themselves.   
"Oh! I am sorry! Mon ami!" And Harle joined in the dance, fanning Black and doubling over, and fanning him again.   
"What is the meaning of this?" Juku let a grin split his face, as he watched from the doorway. Kimmie could be heard giggling not too far beyond.   
"Ah! Bonjour Juku!" Harle let herself sit down, content that Black was safe from the soup. Stiff bandaged were wrapped tightly about her chest, and her left arm as well as her left leg. "You have saved zhe day, non?"   
"Bugger! You got 'em in one try!" Kidd was instantly happy again, lost in the fantasy of that last battle. A large bandaged had been wrapped about her head covering her right eye, while several other wraps littering her body causing her grief but protection. "I thought we were goners!"   
"The training in Geal is..." Juku searched for the perfect word. "thorough. It was nothing any of my men could not have done." Juku had been summoned by Tatzuna, that much was clear. But the relationship between the greatest warrior of Geal, and the Shaman of Sewqra had yet to be determined.   
"Yes." Black turned with a hazy grin towards Juku. "You came just in time. Tell me though, how did you kill Spirit so easily?"   
"You have a long, long way to go my friend." Juku turned to leave, but before he departed he gestured that Black should follow after him. After making sure that Harle would be alright by herself, and then making sure again, Black left with Juku. The walk started out in uncomfortable silence. It seemed to Black that Juku had something to say that was troubling. Though the village was full of life and rebirth it seemed to be of little solace to Juku, as questions formed in Black's mind. But such questions were best left for mediation later.   
"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Black started the conversation, though he rathered Juku would have been kind enough to do so. "You didn't come all the way here from Geal, just to save us did you?"   
"Maybe we did." Juku offered up that statement for Black to chew on for a few moments before continuing. "I was ... disappointed with the battle Black."   
"Disappointed?" Black added a healthy amount of indignation with that response. "We survived didn't we?"   
"What if I was to tell you, that there is another Spirit. A woman with powers far beyond that of the Spirit we killed yesterday." Juku paused a moment to let the words sink in. To his surprise he was not interrupted, and so he continued. "He lacked skill, and he could not bring out the fullest power of the Dragon Spirit dagger. But she can use the weapon to its greatest potential."   
"What are you saying?" Black asked, pausing to stare into Juku. An eyebrow, painted black rose up above a silver eye.   
"Even if we are there with you when you meet her, if she has the dagger and you fight as you did today, we will all be killed."   
"We fought our hardest, we could go no further." Black new the argument to be weak but he still offered it anyway.   
"Did you see the ease with which I disposed of your feared Dragon Hunter? It was because I have been trained to perfection. You fight with the skills of a toddler, you and Harle with you."   
"You don't know anything about it." Black burned to hear Harle's name spoken with such distaste.   
"You are wrong Black. I know about you. I know everything about you." The two stopped walking as Black searched Juku's face for a moment. What had he meant just then?   
"You can't possibly know everything about me." His past had been carefully concealed and not even the Hands of the Forest could ever know.   
"I know of you, and the part you played in the Omni-Dragon." Juku's words burned away any hopeful doubts Black had held on to. Juku indeed proved what he claimed.   
"So what do you want from me?" Black turned to continue this walk, despite the fact that the dialogue was turning sour.   
"You need training. Harle as well. Both of you contain powers that alone can defeat the She-Spirit. Black... do you love her?"   
"I love her, with everything I am."   
"Then stop toying with her." Juku's words carried unusual force to them. "Tell her the truth about who you are, so you both might begin the training you will need. There are still many revelations to come for the young dragoness, and lovers keeping secrets will not help. Besides, she will love you for it."   
"I know. But I cant. Not yet."   
"You promised her, that when she found out about herself, you would show her everything about you. I can arrange for part of that promise to be filled. It is up to you to fill the other half."   
"How did you know I promised her that!?" Blacks perplexed question fell on deaf ears. Juku walked away from the black clad clown, and returned to his troops waiting nearby.   
"We will be in touch." And Juku lead his men towards the outskirts of Sewqra. Black did not comment about the fact that Juku still had the blade. He rather the cursed weapon be anywhere but near Harle. 

  
"Are you sure you are ready?" Black sat across the hut. Tatzuna's home had become his home the last four days. Harle sat across from him on her floor mat, her legs folded as her hands deftly moved about her torso. She was slowly uncoiling her bandages.   
"Oui. I feel fine." She did not feel fine. Her mind ached but that was something she would save for another conversation another time.   
"You want to leave, without even saying goodbye to anyone?" It was too soon. She wasn't ready and Black was unwilling to push her.   
"Who would you like to say goodbye too hmm? Mick?" Her sarcastic tone was well taken and Black retreated from his argument into silence. "I do not want to leave, eizher. But zhis place is stiffiling non?" Harle did not want him to be hurt, and she could see his brooding face.   
"Where will we go?"   
"Wherever zhe wind carriez uz. If what you say iz true, and zhere iz another Spirit, zhen anywhere iz better zhen here." And Harle was free of her bandages. She stood up, testing her wounds but feeling nothing other then tight skin.   
"I agree." Black sighed as he forced himself to his feet. "Let's go find Kidd and get out of here."   
"Oui." Harle nudged Black a little in the side and he took her hand and squeezed it tight for a moment, before releasing it and stepping out the door. She stood behind for a moment holding out her hand that still hummed from his touch.   
"Are you coming?" His playful call soon echoed through the doorway.   
"Uh, oui!" And she ran out into the night.   
It seemed traditional that the villagers built a fire at the first sign of night. And when the first star could be seen they would gather about the fire and discuss the future of their village and tell stories and exchange gossip. All of it reminded Harle very much of how a family must act when they gathered around a dinner table.   
Something touched the back of Harle's consciousness. She felt a stare, a different stare then the glances she had been given the last few days. It was coming from the old but shinning eyes of Tatzuna. With the actions of her son, Tatzuna finally realized how she had been neglecting her village, and the raising of her son. For his actions she banished him from the village for six weeks that he might rethink his life, and she assumed command where before she had lapsed.   
"What are you looking at, old woman?" Harle asked with little respect but also with little sarcasm. Tatzuna did not reply but still stared deeply into Harle as if peering into her soul. That thought made Harle, suddenly very uncomfortable.   
"Children!" Tatzuna suddenly called to all her village without removing her eyes from Harle. "Children listen to me." And the crowd quieted to total silence. "There has been allot of talk of dragons in our village the last few days, since our blessings from the Sky Beast."   
"Oh!" One of the village children new what Tatzuna's tone of voice was leading to. "Tell us a story about a dragon!"   
"Ah I do love the children." Tatzuna smiled with her lips but laughed with her eyes as she starred into Harle eternally. "Come, sit everyone, sit around me and I will tell you a story of before this village was mine, and when I was the Shaman of another village far, far, away."   
"Harle?" Black's voice suddenly tickled her ear. He was leaning close as to not overpower Tatzuna. "I've got Kidd. Are you ready to leave?"   
"Wait." Harle reached back blindly to grab a fold of Black's clothing. She tugged it gently, beckoning him to stay.   
"That village was a wonderful and perhaps, a magical place buried deep in the deepest forests of Teodorrin." Tatzuna continued the introduction of her story, finally relieving Harle of her sight. "Those of my old village, called it.... Euore." And her eyes shot back to Harle for a moment, to catch her reaction. She was not disappointed. Harle's face lit up brighter then the fire before them. And her mouth opened to it's fullest in surprise. Harle felt distantly the squeeze of Blacks hands on her shoulders.   
"Euore was a beautiful place then, children. With the woods all around us we never were in need of timber, and the game was plentiful. We were ... " And with her words a beautiful tapestry began to wave in and out between all those who listened, especially Kidd, and Black.... and Harle. 

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	16. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 15

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 15 – "The Birth of Harle: First Perspective" -=- 

  
"Hold on!" Tatzuna shouted over the huddled masses crowded in the largest of the wooden structures. Euore lay beneath a storm of such power that Tatzuna was sure it could be felt all over the world. Her father had been the Shaman before her, and had left all of Euore to her upon his death thirty years prior. And now Tatzuna struggled to keep together what she had worked for her entire life.   
Lightening slashed the sky and thunder shook the hearts and minds of her poor villagers. Children cried out in terror, clinging to their parents with all their strength. Distantly in her thoughts Tatzuna wondered what deed had been done to bring about such wrath from the planet. What was the meaning of all of this? Was there a meaning? Or was it only the playtime of some great creature.   
"Lady Tatzuna! Lady Tatzuna!" A warrior clawed his way into the shelter, his body beaten by the winds. "Jonathan and Sparrow are trapped in their cabin! A tree has fallen in front of their door and they can't get out!"   
"Tell me the child is not with them." Tatzuna scanned the crowd beneath her. She could not see any babies, though her hopes were foolish.   
"The baby is with them." Why would a babe of three weeks be anywhere but in it's mother's arms.   
"Come we must go and fetch the child and her parents!" Tatzuna shouted over the masses. "I need brave strong men to save Catharine! Come! Your village needs you!" Men abandoned their own families, and came up to volunteer. They tried desperately to keep the cries of their children back and out of mind. And with the group gathered Tatzuna pushed the door open. A blast of pure wind energy exploded into the room but Tatzuna fought through it and towards the storm.   
'Where are you going?" One of the warriors called her, pulling on her arm.   
"We've got a baby to save!"   
"You stay here Lady Tatzuna, we will go." Another responded.   
"This is my village, I will go and YOU will shut up and be right behind me." And she stepped out in the rain. Yet another bolt of lightening filled the forest skies. "BY THE MOONS!" Tatzuna shouted as she stumbled backwards into the arms of a waiting warrior. The lightning carried more with it then thunder. A huge beast let is legs smash down in the very center of the village only yards from her. A dragon? Yes! A mythical creature with white scales and more then a single set of wings as far as she could tell. With a piercing cry the beast began to ravage the village, tumbling over whatever structures were hearty enough to stand against the storm.   
"What is that?!" Another saw the beast, and shouted his useless question. Tatzuna did not answer, but instead only watched as he tore the roofs and walls of all the cabins to tiny pieces. As she watched the dragon she got the distinctive feeling he was searching for something, and with fervent intent. But what could such a creature want with her village?   
And suddenly it happened upon the poor cabin of Jonathan and Sparrow. The two had been a favorite of Tatzuna's as she watched them grow up. And to her delight, the two became married and decided to stay in the village to raise a family. Their first daughter was born only a year after their marriage. And they called her Catharine. With her pure blonde hair and giant trusting eyes of blue, the child became an instant love of the village. But all of this was in jeopardy as the White Beast tore the walls from the cabin, housing the tiny and newly made family.   
"Go! We must distract the great beast!" Tatzuna shouted her call to all her warriors and thinking of how they would fight for their own children they charged out towards the beast. With the flick of his tail they were all thrown back, and the creature continued as if he had hardly noticed the lower life forms.   
"No! No go away!" Sparrow shouted with useless agony. Her own blonde hair flew about her head in a mess as her mate, Jonathan held tight to her waist.   
But the dragon was not merciful, in the way that Sparrow had hoped him to be. Instead of eating them all, or killing them, it simply snapped out with its jaws and grabbed her child from her own arms. Catharine screamed against the wind, throwing tears up and clawing at Jonathen that he might release her and let her fight. But her screaming fell to silence, and a gapping empty mouth, as the jaws of the great beast bore down with horrible and slow force onto the baby.   
"NOO!!!" Sparrow pleaded into the unhearing rain. There was another lightening bolt and when the flash had faded the beast had gone away, appeased. Laying on the ground amongst the mud and the sticks lay the baby Catharine screaming for her very soul.   
Though for years to come there were many theories, no one ever truly understood why the White Dragon had seen fit to visit their village, destroy many homes, injure a child and then leave as instantly as it came. Catharine herself seemed completely whole. If anything she was perhaps too whole. When she was pulled from the dirt and back into her mothers arms she had no wounds, though Sparrow and Jonathan had both testified to having seen the blood of their daughter, and they heard her screams.   
Three more years passed as the young Catharine grew. She had received what many of the village had come to call the Dragon Touch. For since her injuries she began to mature (not age, or grow, but simply mature) at a noticeably faster rate then her piers. Though she still needed the food and love support pf her parents, walking came to her almost instantly as did speaking. Her agility, even at the age of two years, was remarkable and unexplainable. She played sports with boys of fifteen years, and usually beat them at every game. But that did not stop the so-called Wise-Men of the village from continuing to sputter their useless ideas of Catharine's condition.   
And until Catharine's third year in Euore, everything went on without any incident or happenstance. But it was that year, that everything would change in Euore forever.   
The men were out hunting, leaving only the elderly and the women in the village, along with Tatzuna. Tatzuna had volunteered to watch Catharine, as both Sparrow and Jonathan joined in the hunt. As usual for the village, those left took care of what needed to be taken care of, from fixing anything damaged, to preparing food for storage. Everyone had their job, and everyone was content with their simple life. In the sun and without the horrid rains the village looked much different. Peace was the most used building material as the birds sang even with the humans so close. Everything, every building, existed of wood, except a few metallic items that had been brought by trade wagons all the way from Nunia. All of the buildings had been built by cutting and fitting logs together into frames to form cabins. Bigger buildings were also raised in this similar manor to store food, and to hold village meetings. Tatzuna poked her head out of her own cabin, looking up and down the main throughway of the village.   
"Catharine!" Tatzuna called out from the door of her own cabin. "Child where have you run off to?" She had turned her back for only a moment and Catharine had disappeared, again. Where could a child with such short legs have run to in such a hurry? Only a moment of searching past before the Shaman noticed the strange shadow cast by her cabin. Head titled back far until her chin pointed upwards, Catharine stood at the edge of the roof looking heavenward. "By the moons! Oh dear oh dear, Catharine how did you get up there?! Oh dear." And Tatzuna began to climb a pile of wooden crates stacked against her home. Her thin arms struggled to pull her upwards and soon she could look up onto the roof. "Come here child and let me take you down off of here! Quick now before you hurt yourself!"   
Catharine slowly turned her tiny face to look upon the old woman who summoned her.   
"What.... is wrong with you... ?" Tatzuna nearly fell from her precarious stepping stones. The sight of Catharine's face had stunned her almost beyond reason. Somehow, the child's eyes had turned a shade of crimson, brighter and deeper then anything natural.   
"Zhey... are calling moi." The child's voice was precarious, and laced with death. That cursed accent again. Only on occasion the child spoke with such a strange tone but whenever she did it was excused as a child playing some game by herself. It seemed only Tatzuna shivered when she heard it.   
"What are you talking about child? Please! Come down from there before you fall!"   
Before Tatzuna's own eyes, as if watching a strange and terrible magic Catharine's skin began to loose its color. It was almost as if her very blood and life suddenly shrunk deeper into her soul. Just a few more moments passed as Catharine laid her eyes upon the village elder-woman. With one last blink Catharine suddenly let out a roar that could only come from the throat of some terrible beast. A circle of light formed around the girl, and from that single sphere of energy a purple dragon burst forth onto the village. 

  
" 'We must get the warriors, we must get the warriors!' I yelled. But it was far to late for that." Tatzuna's story was as beautiful as it was true to all those who listened but for one particular dragon goddess, it was the most precious words she had yet to hear from any human. "The dragon, or Catharine, or whatever it was, made short work of my village of Euore. The women, and the children were butchered by her power. And with great energies she spewed from her mouth... " Tatzuna used her hand, moving it back and forth from her own mouth, to show the dragon breath. "... leveled even our strongest cabins. In just one hour Euore was totally destroyed."   
"You must have been so sad." One of the little girls of the village was obviously disturbed by the images given her.   
"I was child." Tatzuna the story-teller held up a single finger. "But then the men came home. Somehow I had managed to hide myself from the dragon and survived to tell them everything. But their families were all gone, reduced to splinters. With their hopes gone, and their loved ones gone the men could not handle the grief, and they left Euore. I was left alone and eventually I found myself here in Sewqra just in time to help found it and add my name to it. That was nearly fourteen years ago and here I am now."   
"Whatever happened to the men of the village?" An astute young man asked, almost as if to challenge the story rather to add to it with his question.   
"I have not followed their actions too closely." Tatzuna admitted. "But I heard that they stayed in a tightly knit group of wanderers. To support their wanderings they began to steal and they became known as bandits... as thieves."   
"How romantic." One middle aged woman, with hearts in her eyes, commented.   
"Indeed. Many came to love and fear them. And with their new found status they soon adopted the name... Radical Dreamers."   
"Bugger!" Kidd jumped to her feet. "Are ya serious?"   
"I never lie." Tatzuna beckoned for Kidd to calm herself. But this news was too much for the young thief to comprehend at the moment and she ran off. "Well, that's it. Off to bed with the children now."   
"Come on." Black whispered to Harle and the two made their way to the edge of the village.   
"I am Catharine, aren't I?" Harle asked without much question in her voice.   
"I don't see how you couldn't be." Black held her close to him as they walked in perfect stride. And so, the mystery of Euore had finally been solved. Harle had destroyed her home village, with her own hands.   
Kidd joined them both eventually, grumbling and mumbling to herself as the three walked. Black knew what this meant. Harle's half of the promise had been filled. And now it was time for her to learn his secret. 

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	17. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 16

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 16 – "Dimenial, and the Secret of Black Harlequin" -=- 

  
Teodorrin offered up its secrets to the travelers, pleased that they saw fit to traverse its grand size time after time. By day the three walked, and walked. And by night they rested in small camps, never for more then a night. The pace became difficult, and every rock hurled itself at their feet to make them stumble. Even Kidd began to loose her stamina, dragging her feet behind, as they pushed ever forward. Harle had been silent most of the trip even on the last legs of their grand journey. Though Black had badgered playfully, and she would smile constantly, her mouth would never seem to move. And together Black and Kidd would wonder as to her silence.   
She would never admit the cause to either of them, especially to Black. But indeed, deep down she was fearful of what lay ahead in Dimenial. It was Black's hometown where he had sworn to tell her everything about himself, every last secret and detail. But why had he been so secretive up until that point? What was he hiding? Would he turn into some monster when they arrived at the village? But even through her most negative thoughts her imagination presented several more romantic situations where he was a pirate of the sea, a dangerous and respected man. Or perhaps, he was a father or husband? Could it be she had fallen into the web of a great deceiver?   
"It's just on the other side of these mountains." Black commented as they three trudged up the steep sides of the overgrown hill. "It's built right on a plateau overlooking the ocean."   
"So mate, what kinda city is it?" Kidd asked, trying to make some pleasant conversation to take away the burning in her calves. The hill, on the verge of mountain-hood did not rise steep enough to climb, nor did it fall flat enough to run across.   
"It's beautiful." Black responded simply. "It all started with a single light house and from there everything else grew out of it."   
"Lighthouze?" Harle had never heard such a term before.   
"Yes." Black slowed down to walk beside his petite jesteress. "It is a building that looks like a giant pillar with a big light at the top of it. It warns ships that the shoreline is close so they wont run ashore and they know where to dock."   
"So, it's a port city?" Kidd was still trying to profile Dimenial, despite Black's vaqueness.   
"You'll see." Was his only response. 

  
Within an hour, the group poked their heads up over the mountain-hill. A plateau rose hundreds of feet over the ocean and upon the flattened face of rock jutted the speckled sight of buildings and a single light house, just a tall pin on the distant horizon.   
Another hour passed before the group finally made it to a towering set of iron bars that bent crisscross to form the city gates. On either side of the gates gothic styled gargoyle statues had been cut to the greatest of detail. They stood as if holding the gates, their great leathery wings wrapped about their bodies like cloaks. And their legs were laid with sinew and muscle, showing that these great creatures could indeed hold up such massive gates.   
"Here we are." Black could no longer contain his excitement and it all spilled out across his face. It had been a long time since he had visited Dimenial but it was worth the wait.   
"Oi! Those are bloody big gates!" Kidd had to stand back a few paces to gather up the image in one glance.   
"Dimenial is a fishing village, but we're also very heavily into the arts. Statues and paintings are everywhere!" Black spun about with his arms spread to symbolize his words.   
"I…" Harle could not stand the tension, and before she could stop herself she found herself running back towards the mountains, back towards Euore, back towards El Nido. This was too far, and too uncomfortable for her and she didn't want to bear it any longer.   
"Harle!" Black's eyes squinted in confusion, and he fell into a pit of concern so deep his feet lay still despite his shouting. Had she seen something that disturbed her? Why had she run off? "Harle come back! Please! Where are you going!?" And finally his legs loosened and he pushed into pursuit. But before he took three steps Kidd held up a silent hand of restraint.   
"I'll go." She responded with unusual tenderness. And with that she bolted, alone, after the ailing Harlequin.   
"Leave moi alone!" Harle could feel Kidd just behind her but she did not turn to look.   
"Come on mate! Wait up!" Kidd pushed herself until she was beside the harlequin. "What? Are those tears?"   
"I said leave moi alone." Harle slowed down, she needed to talk despite her words.   
"What is it mate? What's with the waterworks eh?" Kidd slowed with her, her face was serious for a change (a look that was rare to her, but she pulled it off well).   
"I … I cant go in zhere." Harle finally admitted. "I can't do it."   
"Why not!? Every day whenever we're alone all ya do is talk about Black like he's some sorta dream, or character from a book or somethin' And you always complain that ya don't know anything about 'im. Well here's yer chance!"   
"But I have dreamt of him. I have seen who he iz in mon dreamz."   
"Oh…." Kidd finally understood. "… I getcha. Your afraid tall dark and laughable over there isn't gonna be what you dreamt him up to be."   
"Oui." Harle nodded distantly.   
"And after all the pointless love he's given ya, ya still gonna judge him on his past, Eh? Little miss 'Kill-Everyone-Because-The-Dragons-Said-So'? Ya still don't get it do ya. Grow up a little bit mate. Its time ya shed a little of those child ideas." Kidd grabbed her shoulder, shaking the jesteress lightly. "Come on, lets go. I'll be with ya the whole time. I'm not too good at all that talking crap, but I'll bloody well try if ya need me."   
"Oui. Alright. I suppoze it is zhe 'adult' zhing to do, non?" Harle managed a weak smile. Such a show of friendship from someone who had once been so distant. Kidd was a loyal breed, to say the least.   
"What happened?" Black asked as the two returned. Harle was obviously upset though she smiled. Black learned to look past that face quiet easily.   
"No worries mate." Kidd slapped him on the back as she walked past towards the gate. "Now how do we get in this city?" 

  
The city had not shed a single sensation, nor emotion since Black had left it. It felt like years but Black continued to remind himself over and over, it had not been that long since he had departed. As they walked he tried his best to explain what the two girls looked upon. Their destination was the Lighthouse at the furthest point of the city. But for their walk Black tried to make the most of Dimenial.   
The city was a fishing village by trade. Dimenial leaked off the plateau and down to the beaches on its northern-most side. There the city had blossomed into port that grew even larger then Terimna's own port had been. The city itself boasted grand spectacles of decoration. The streets were red cobblestone, and filled with quaint horse drawn wagons. Sidewalks lined the streets to keep pedestrians off of the roadway. Houses rose like grand statues, each structure similar in overall design but a wildly different color with dissimilar forms of décor. Even the bushes were cut into grand forms of art from the abstract, to the concrete.   
Intersections of roads came to grand designs worked into the very cobblestone itself. All this while the street lamps were bent and twirled about, with shapes cut into their shades so at night they might project glowing symbols onto the streets. Also, statues of different people or forms stood at every corner, holding road signs made of wood. Fountains could be seen in front of larger buildings, with mythological creatures of ancient design spouting water from their lips and fingers out across the fountain's pool   
"This aint no fishing village." Was the first thing Kidd managed to say.   
"Well, we don't just fish." Black replied. "Under the plateau there are a string of water caverns filled with oysters. And our oysters make the biggest pearls you have ever seen."   
"Makes more sense." Kidd nodded as she stared at one particularly gaudy art piece, tugging on the edge of it.   
"What iz zhat over zhere?" Harle pointed to what looked like the wooden frames of houses being built towards the lighthouse. Many numbers of frames stood one next to the other, showing that the building project covered many houses all at once.   
"Uh… " Black scratched his cheek uncomfortably for a moment. "There was a fire there before I left. I guess they are just rebuilding still."   
"Oi! That had ta be some fire there!" Kidd boggled. At least twenty homes or more were being restructured.   
"Come on." Black did not wish to stay and harp on the houses any longer. "We are almost there." 

  
"Black!" The woman called his name gently but with deep, dawdeling affection. She was slender and beautiful but her silver-gay hair and slightly wrinkled face testified she was knocking on old-age's door. Her voice held authority, with her compassion. And she wore a flowing dress of white. She seemed to radiate a white aura as she stepped from the light house closer to her Black. "It has been too long, son."   
"Mother." Black ran from the group, running until he was almost upon the woman. Then he slowed down taking her hand in his.   
"Black." And she draped her arms around him and drew him near. For several moments the two embraced and finally she let him go. "You look well. Have you been taking care?"   
"Of course." Black nodded. His voice became more refined and his dialogue as well. A rather strange feeling to be echoing from a jester.   
"And who are your friends?" She at last recognized the two young women with him. "Ah, you must be Harle." The woman stepped from the doorway and made her way over to the jesteress. "Hello my name is Minura. My son has told me so much about you."   
"Oui. I am sure he haz." Harle ignored all the obvious questions for the time being.   
"Oh!" Minura's eyes lit up with glowing pleasure. "You are right, her accent is most delightful." She referred the statement to Black, standing off behind her. "Hello" And she moved on to Kidd. "I'm sure that Black has not mentioned anything about you to me."   
"The names Kidd." Kidd held out a stiff hand and Minura took it lightly, unsure of what to do with it. With great energy Kidd shook Minura's arm up and down smiling a warm and well meaning smile.   
"My!" Minura laughed at the force of the greeting. "You have such interesting taste Black. How has your costume held up, and yours too Harle?"   
"Zhe coztume?" Harle had not thought of her clothes in some time but oddly enough, when she thought about it all of her clothes were in remarkable condition. "Itz... still in one piece.."   
"They should be. I made it myself with the finest of my magical threads." Minura wrinkled her eyes in mystery. "No matter what happens to it, it will always grow back, like skin. We wear that sort of thread everywhere in Dimenial. If it wasn't so difficult to make we may consider marketing it."   
"Wow!" Kidd yanked on a stray edge of Harle's clothing. "That's really cool!"   
"How did you make it fit so well?" Pulling her arm away, and the thread with it out of Kidd's grasp, Harle asked her question.   
"Well that was Blacks doing. He described your features with such precision I couldn't help but make it perfect." Minura giggled a childish laugh for a moment and then composed herself. "Well it is still hours yet until dinner. Why don't you kids go and take a look around Dimenial? I'm sure Black would be happy to show you about. You must excuse me." And Minura disappeared back into the Lighthouse.   
"She didn't look too happy ta see ya mate." Kidd jabbed Black in the ribs with her elbow. "She didn't even stay outside for ten minutes!"   
"She is the leader of Dimenial, and she has a lot of work to do." Black dismissed the jocular remark and began to walk from the Lighthouse.   
"Oui, leave him alone Kidd." Harle was in his stride instantly.   
"What?!" Kidd did not enjoy getting the backs of both her piers at once. "Aww come on! Where ya going!?" And she ran to catch up after them. 

  
Though the artistic value and beauty, along with the friendly and vast population of Dimenial was a draw to Harle, she soon became weary. Perhaps it was too much culture for her free spirit for one day. She began to leave subtle hints to Black that she felt increasingly bored. Her mind began to settle and that was dangerous. If she started to think too hard, the emotions she fought off might come stampeding back to her consciousness. And something lingered in Dimenial still, despite her exploration, that made Harle feel uncomfortable. But here, where Black grew up, though he tried his best he could not fill her appetite for entertainment. He had become too caught up in his own memories to offer much at all to occupy her time. And she felt herself becoming angry, and sad all over again. She controlled herself though, for Black's sake. He seemed so happy to be home and she believed she had never seen him more cheerful or more thoughtful before, since she had met him And through the day she cursed herself for hoping that Black would comfort her. She, if only from her own mind, was drawing Black from his joy. Guilt added itself to her growing list.   
Dinner finally came, to Harle's relief and she hoped it would distract her enough so she could force herself through the night. But as her pace slowed, and her heart slowed her mind became more and more distracted with less and less savory thoughts. The dinner Harle had been brought to was one of the grandest design. It appeared that Dimenial indeed enjoyed its share of the worlds wealth. The table stretched out long, easily long enough to seat twenty guests. Held in a brightly lit dinning room a chandelier of greater size then Harle had ever seen, covered the ceiling. It's glitter and shine eminating from the candles burning through a multitude of refracting crystals, could not help but grab her attention. Dots of rainbow light drew her darting glance this way and that. The table itself had dressed for the occasion in a white silk table cloth and had been covered with silver dressings. Everything from the forks to the napkin rings seemed to be made of pure silver and everything in that roomed gave off a glow.   
"You must tell me of your travels son." Minura sat at the head of the table while her three guests sat all along one side. Black was the closest and Kidd was the furthest away. But she didn't notice how far she sat from the conversation as she shoved the food served her, directly into her stomach. Chewing was not her forte. "You have been gone a few months now." Minura reminded as she began to cut the first portion of the meal served her with ginger motions.   
"Oh mother, it such a long boring story."   
"What story could be so boring when you have brought back two beautiful..." And Minura chuckled to herself. "... if not a little strange... young ladies with you?"   
"Well." And Black threw down his napkin with a glimmering smile. "If you insist."   
Never had a story been told so passionately, especially since Harle had already lived it once. But Black told the stories, letting the words form pictures and sensations and emotions, and the story danced with life.. Perhaps it was an acquired skill of a harlequin? At first his tone moved slowly, factual and calm. But as he continued he became more forceful and dramatic, waving his hands about in meaningful gestures. Seamlessly Black passed right over the precious but few tender moments he had shared with Harle. Those were for the two of them alone. Leaving out those details did not impact his story at all, as he described everything he could up until the most recent of events. At the end of his epoch tale he was standing out on the dinning room floor moving about as he acted and narrated his own one-man performance.   
"Oh Black. You are such an actor. Please! Sit you have hardly touched your plate!" His mother insisted with glee. She had enjoyed the dinner entertainment. The account of the final battle with Spirit left her face with a releieved smile.   
"I can't eat." Black responded as he sat down, folding his hand beneath his chin, he leaned his elbows on the table and let his head rest in his palm. "I'm getting too worked up."   
"Well, it's been a bloody good meal there, thanks a load! But I think I'm ready to go off to bed now."   
"Oh? It's so early." Minura glanced out at the fading sunlight disappointed, but her maternal instincts did not end on Black. "You have had a long journey getting here. I'm sure we'll be able to talk tomorrow." Minura called over a servant to the table, instructing him to bring Kidd to their best suite. "Will you be going to bed now too Harle?"   
"Ah, oui." Harle shrugged. There was nothing better to do. If she got into mischief she could somehow wind up hurting Black. So her only real escape was sleep. "I suppoze so."   
"Good. We only have one guest suite available right now, so you two can share it. There are two beds in there already. I wish you the best of dreams." And with one final goodnight to Minura, and a small hug from Black, Harle was off to bed with Kidd close to her.   
"Mother?"   
"Yes Black?" The two were getting up from the table, now alone.   
"Can we talk for awhile?"   
"Of course Black. Come, let us go for a walk." 

  
_There she is, Harle, the murderer._   
What? What was that? Harle leapt to a sitting position in her bed, the bedsprings vibrating with her motion. Nothing. It was all in her head. Glancing over at Kidd, the thief had rolled over and was breathing regularly with sleep. Did anything phase that girl? And with that thought Harle returned to her labored attempts at rest.   
_You wish to rest? You will never rest... murderer ..._   
That time she was sure she heard a voice.   
_Are you happy? Are you joyful and calm?_   
It was a familiar voice. One full of past memories. Serge.   
"What iz zhis? A nightmare?" Harle asked allowed.   
_Ha! You wish it was that simple._   
The voices kept changing. Those words, it had been Leena.   
_Child you will never learn anything. Your hands are covered in blood._ Radius. _The blood of children._   
What was all of this? Memories? Consciousnesses on the wind?   
"Leave moi alone." Harle turned over and shut her eyes tight. But something tore between her eye lids and forced them open again. There was nothing solid there, only voices and thoughts.   
_Do you remember that night, you and Lynx stumbled upon that wagon, in the woods?_   
"Non!" She turned and buried her face in the pillow. But the voices only came closer.   
_Do you? I remember. An innocent family with a broken wheel. They asked the kindly demi-human for some help. Surely with such strength he could perhaps lift their wagon so a new wheel could be slid on? _   
"Leave moi alone! I do not dezerve zhis! Zhat was a long time ago!"   
_He killed them all, father, mother and children, just because they spoke to him._   
"I didn't kill zhem! It wazn't moi!" Harle sat up, shouting to the emptiness of her room.   
_But you didn't lift a hand to stop him. And you laughed at them. You ... laughed ..._

  
The walk continued on for some time, as the two talked of times shared and past, and times spent apart. But finally Black bent the conversation to the topic he truly had at heart. And he began to explain his problem.   
"... And I don't know what to say to her." Black had spent several minutes explaining his dilemma. He had something potentially devastating to tell Harle. But he was so close to her love he could not bring himself to jeopardize that dream.   
"What a romantic situation." Minura smiled a distant and wise smile. She wished distantly to have such a decision to make, in the future. Things like those, were the only things that made her feel alive and young anymore. "It is difficult. I cannot even guess how she will react when you tell her. She could run away from you Black, and never look back."   
"I know." Black had made his point clear.   
"And so the question is, keep this information from her and always be on the brink of her heart, and never further. Or take a chance, all or nothing."   
"Yes, you understand my problem." It felt good to hear it placed in such common terms. "Tell me mother, what do you think of Harle? Is she everything I described to you?"   
"If I didn't know how you first met, I would have to wonder at how accurately you knew her." Minura smiled at the question. It was as if her real son was talking to her right then, asking her advice and her opinion. "She is beautiful, I think" She thought more of the girls personality, but even that did not show through terribly. "Her beauty lies in her energy, her mystery, and for you... her vulnerability. But she is a tormented soul Black. You have to be careful how you reveal yourself to her. She may completely tear herself from you."   
"But then I will never know her love." Black responded with a pleading tone. "I don't know what to do."   
"Why do you ask me what to do, when you already know the answer." And somehow the two were back at the Minura's dwelling, directly beside the all seeing lighthouse. 

  
_... and what of that man in Termina you murdered in cold blood?_   
"He was going to oppose Monsieur Lynx." Harle protested. Her face was covered in beads of sweat and her eyes were wide to their fullest restraints. "And Monsieur Lynx expected it."   
_You are weak. No one can command you, or tell you what to do if you truly don't want to do it. Is this half way excuse something even worth telling his children, or his wife? They weep for him every night even thought they don't remember why he died._   
And Harle began to roll back and forth. Her arms were crawling upwards to her head as if to grab her own neck. But instead she clawed her face, hoping that she could muster the courage to gouge out her own eyes.   
_Why did you kill my daddy? It was a child's voice. Daddy? Daddy! Where are you!?_   
"Stop... make it stop... " Harle whimpered into her hands.   
_There is only one way to make it stop Harle. Do it. Take your element... and DO IT!_ And the voices swirled about her head, and her brain, driving her mad with anguish. A thousand memories, from her destruction of Euore, to her destruction of the IPS Trojan Horse all came back. All those deaths. All of them. They were hers alone to bear. And she was the only one to have those memories. So if she died, so would they.   
Her hand flailed out into the dark of night, searching with clumsy speed for her Free Fall element. It would be her last escape. Without even noticing she knocked all the contents of her night table onto the floor, including a lamp and several books. With all that clatter Kidd rose from her groggy sleep and wiped her perfect blue eyes clear.   
"What the bloody hell was tha...?" Kidd's eyes fell on Harle's. But something was wrong. She was not in her right mind. Her face, twitched about horribly and her body trembled as she tore her element grid from her costume and tossed it aside. Without regard Harle threw all her other expendable elements aside as well, taking two black crystals into her hand. "Harle?! Harle mate what's the matta?"   
"... dead ... murderer... " Harle only mumbled in response, and she stood on her feet letting her bed coverings simply slide off her body.   
"Come back! Bugger where do you think yer goin'!?" And Kidd leapt at the clown as Harle prepared to make her leave. But even with her mind cut to ribbons Harle could still feel her fighting soul. And dodging Kidd's initial onslaught Harle flicked one of her black elements, a Hell Bound letting it land right at Kidd's feet. The element activated and suddenly the floor tore open and a hole began to suck into it, everything in the room, including Kidd.   
"Ourevoir... mon amie." Harle staggered out of the bedroom and let Kidd contend with the intense vacuum. Kidd fought it with every muscle and cell in her body. Her legs began to fall into it as she wildly grabbed at any dangling hanging object she could reach. With a burst of pure effort she unsheathed her dagger and plunged it into the soft wooden floorboards, and held herself fast. 

  
Black, confident in his decision, stepped easily through the grand house of his mother. The floor met his soft curled shoes with swift hardness, but his feet moved making no noise upon it at all. His bells rang out excitedly as he neared Harle and Kidd's quarters. Soon he would either be a broken man, or a man with everything the world had to offer laying in his lap. But something felt wrong. The door had been tossed open, and there was rubbish thrown out into the hallway as if a great wind had swept through the bedroom and hallway.   
"Harle!" Black pushed aside any ill thoughts and plunged into the bedroom. Kidd laid on the floor, exhausted almost to unconsciousness with her dagger deep in the floor. Whatever had happened, had ended only a little while ago. The air still smelt as though it had been disturbed.   
"Black!" Kidd flipped herself onto her back and sat up, calling her friend to her side. "Ya gotta help Harle. She's gone insane or somethin..."   
"Do you know where she went? KIDD!?" Black shook the motionless thief but she had lost herself in the struggle she had with the Hell Bound. She needed to rest, if only for a little while. But Harle's smell was still on the air and Black began to follow her trail. 

  
_Do it... it will make you feel better ... it will put all the demons in your head to rest forever! ... do it ..._   
So this was insanity. Harle found herself rather disappointed that she could have fallen to it so easily, and so suddenly. But she could not control herself anymore. And the sky towered high above her, with its own laws.   
"Please ... Black ... " She made one last attempt to regain her mind. 

  
Black ran now, through the house, through the streets of Dimenial and closer and closer to the gates at the outermost beyond. Suddenly his Heart Gem flashed a glowing flash with intensity he had never seen before. It did not pulse or fade in and out, but it shinned with constant light to rival the lighthouse to his back.   
"Hold on Harle! Hold on ..." 

  
"Ourevoir, Black." And her gem faded as she cracked the Free Fall element. With her eyes squeezed shut, and sealed with burning tears she erupted skyward. She could not fly anymore, and she did not bring any elements with her. At least her skills with her elements would not go to waste completely. With this in mind she bent the Free Fall to take her higher then she had ever gone before. It was suicide. And the clouds parted on either side for her. 

  
Black did not stop to call for the gate guards as the entrance gates came into view. With perfected motion he leapt the gates in a single leap, and came to a silent landing beyond. The forest seemed to reek with her scent, and it drove him mad to have her so near yet not to see her. It almost felt as though her very footsteps were still warm before him. Miles flew below him as he tore across open prairie. And all at once, the scent stopped.   
"Where...?" Black tossed his head about in every direction, but he could see no sign of her. Out in the middle of nowhere she could not hide from him. As if to guide his eyes a breeze swept around him and then surged upwards. And his eyes followed. At the limit of his sight he could see a singular figure, glowing blue and red against the moons, soaring skywards, arms outstretched.   
"Well Harle. You leave me no choice then." Gathering his hidden powers Black took flight, after the harlequin. An almost invisible mist of energy swept about him as he traveled up to the night. 

  
_Harle you miserable creature. Do you believe this act of self-pity will atone for your sins? You are hopeless._   
"But ... !?" Harle was plagued with the confusion of insanity. But these words did not surprise her.   
_Goodbye Harle. May the afterlife be as terrible for you, as this life. And the voice faded into the depths of her soul again._   
"Wait!" She screamed into the night. Gravity began to pull on her now, and her arch hit its peak. "Wait! You muzt come back!" She begged. Those voices, were to be her company as she fell to her death. They were to relese her before she perished. But now they had left her with this one last burden. One she would have to hold onto alone. And the ground began to grow. Her body withered as she fell, her muscles relaxing and her mind preparing itself for the second of complete pain, and then the whatever that was beyond life.   
"Too many thingz, to bear on mon own." Harle let the words dribble from her mouth as she fell. . "Too many hurtz. Too many memoriez. Too many ... deathz."   
"Why?" A voice, not in her head, whispered into her ear. "Why do you bear all those things, all alone?"   
"Black?" Harle asked distantly. Another hallucination. How had he found her up in the sky? It didn't matter. Humans couldn't fly... and neither could she.   
"Lean on me." Black's arm grasped her waist, and drew her closer then she had ever been. "Talk to me. Love me. Need me. That is all you have to do. And all I need is for you to need me. And we will both be complete. Please. Stop this. Just tell me, that you need me."   
"Black! Black… Black…Black…" She repeated his name over and over again while nuzzling her nose into his cheek with all the affection her tattered soul could muster.   
"I have something ... to show you." Black released her. And closed his eyes, concentrating his soul... his souls within him together. And when the two mingled he was encased in a ball of shimmering light. The light shined great and it forced the moon into an embarrassed darkened state beside him, for all too brief a moment an egg made of pure energy formed even as Harle fell with it through the sky. Two wings, made of black leather slowly crept from the back of the orb, and two legs laced with strength and bent with talons of powerful potential pushed through the bottom. Arms, thick with might cut through the front and with a shattering roar a horned head appeared from above. And the light splintered to reveal the Black Dragon god.   
With one skilled and mighty beat the Dragon god brought himself below the falling child, and he began to fly upwards again catching her gently. As soon as she felt his flesh, she opened her eyes.   
"Zhis... waz your secret..." And finally Harle understood everything. That was how Black had known her so well, even down to her thoughts. But how had he fallen in love with her?   
"Harle?" The dragon called up to her as it crossed the sky easily. "Are you alright?" But he need not have asked, for she squeezed her body about him, with every ounce of strength she had.   
"I need you." She whispered into the air, her tears flowing warm and welcome onto his neck. "I love you." 

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	18. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 17

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 17 – "The Birth of Harle: Second Perspective" -=- 

  
"I'm not all that bad." Black tried his best to explain himself to Kidd. "I promise." Black had searched for Kidd for some time, before finding her at the highest level of the lighthouse, looking out across the ocean. The waves moved and bent about the shore with their usual and rhythmic gestures. To Black, they were nothing special but Kidd found a great deal of interest in watching them.   
"I know ya aint bad." Kidd didn't take her eyes from the horizon. "But it still aint easy to believe."   
"Why is that?"   
"We've only been good mates you and me…" And she turned at last to face him. "…only a little while right?"   
"Yes. I suppose you're right." Black agreed.   
"But I've felt so comfortable, being around ya, and even the bloody clown girl and … well what I'm trying to say to ya is that I trust ya with my life. I'm a pretty good judge of character-"   
"Oh?" Harle jumped in. She couldn't resist digging up the past if even in jest.   
"Shut up you." Kidd replied good-naturedly. "I'm sorry. I dunno how to say what I'm tryin' to say." And she turned back to her beloved ocean.   
"I know what you mean." And Black joined her at her side, looking out into the ocean. "Harle and me, we are two special dragons. We are not like the Dragon gods anymore, but we are not like humans either. I'm not sure what to call us."   
"Whadda ya mean?" Kidd asked, becoming confused by Black's cryptic talk.   
"Oui. What do you mean, mon amour?" Harle wrapped her arms about Black, weaving them in front of his chest and resting her chin on his shoulder. Kidd looked a bit sick at the words and actions of Harle, but she pushed it to the back of her head. She had to get used to it. After all, the two were "in love" of whatever dragons were.   
"We are half-dragons. Half human, and half dragon. It's a long story…"   
"Great! It's a long time till dinner." Kidd responded with her usual enthusiasm. Though she thought stories to be boring usually, stories about her friends she could stand to hear.   
"Oui!" Harle chimed in, from behind.   
"You have never heard about your half-human self, Harle?" He had always taken it for granted that she knew what she was. The thought she might not have ever figured it out, seemed unfair to Black.   
"I am zhe dragon godess, non? Dragon in human shape, non?"   
"You are..." Black let a small laugh twinkle. "half right." And after taking only a few moments to gather his thoughts, he began his story. 

  
Back when FATE still drained our powers away, we, the Dragon gods used to speak telepathically to one another and relay plans and thoughts back and forth. Through many years of speaking and waiting and watching we finally completed a plan that would allow us to introduce into the world, an agent of our own design. This agent would be used by us, to undo FATE and to allow us freedom to form the Omni-Dragon. Since we, the Dragon gods all have similar life forces, or spirits, we decided to take a piece from each of ourselves and create a new Dragon spirit. We could then implant this spirit into a human body that would not feel the effects of FATE as we felt them. At first we rested, gathering our strength to each channel a tiny portion of ourselves towards the White Dragon who would gather and assemble the pieces. After nearly two decades we managed to accomplish this goal. But the next goal was much further, and much more difficult.   
For years upon years we each probed the world with our greatest telepathic powers, to try and find a human being with the soul strong enough to contain our spirit. We found as we progressed that newborn children were the greatest candidate for such a transfusion of spirits. At their ages their spirits and souls have not yet bonded together completely and a "spiritless, but alive" state could be attained if only for a few moments. During those moments we could infuse our own spirit. With all of this in mind, all we could do was wait for the opportunity we knew would soon come. And we begin the story just as the Storm of Fates began that fateful day less then seventeen years ago… 

  
_Do you feel that?_ The Red Dragon asked, his mind mingling in the formless collective mind that the Dragons gods had formed in their weakened states.   
_I do._ White Dragon replied. He was the leader of all six dragons, and as such his word was final in all situations.   
_I have never felt such a storm, with such strength and power. Even the very oceans tremble._ Blue Dragon added Perhaps this is the opportunity we have been waiting for?   
_I will be ready, if it is._ White Dragon alone carried the strength and speed, and command of the air currents to secure this mission. From the top of his mountain he could see the storm clouds move slowly across the sky. They moved with an ominous slowness that ate away whatever sky the sun had shown through. It was curious to watch the clouds as in all his years, White had never seen a single storm so bent on drowning the tiny El Nido. And the rains fell upon his mountain, tattering against his skin. The ferocity of the storm could not be denied as the winds attacked all at once, tugging even White's t tremendous bulk.   
The feeling was instantaneous and glorious. But White did not linger a moment to savor it, for he did not know for how long it would last. Blue Dragon had already located a child of suitable caliber to carry the Dragon spirit and White Dragon took to the sky. His air currents were just as he remembered them. They moved with speed unmatched by any man-made technology, hurtling the Dragon hundreds of miles in mere moments. And far below he could feel the sensations of the chosen one.   
The village was deep in the forests of the untamed continent Teodorrin. But the name and linguistics of the continent did not interest the Sky Beast. Only the village held his attention. And as he dived downwards, still in the thick of the great planetary storm, the feelings grew inside his chest. Built of wood and little opposing stone or metal the village posed no challenge for the beast as he began to hack away at building after building, on his desperate search for the child. His time leaked through his scaled talons, and any moment FATE would return to operational status and White would fall where he stood. But he pressed on, the strongest of all dragons.   
_There._ White announced. _I have found the child._ Held in the arms of it's parents the child pulsed in the Dragons site. He could see her spirit and soul beating together and he could feel her strength. It surprised him slightly to see it was a female. But such thoughts drifted into the oblivion of his mission. Then was not the time for such debates of mind. No warriors opposed the beast, indeed he stood alone as the only creature capable of standing upright in such a storm. With a single motion White tore the baby, whom we found out was named Catharine, from it's parents arms, and inflicted a mortal wound onto the child. As the blood and spirit flowed from Catharine he had to wait for the exact moment to infuse the new spirit into her. And the seconds crawled as the rain fell. The squirming sensation of the child clenched in the dragon's jaw began to irritate his tongue, and he had to fight the reflex to swallow.   
_White!? What is taking so long! Get back here now!_ Green Dragon shouted through his mind.   
_This is taking too long._ White agreed. His arms began to falter, and his legs trembled as the terrible but inevitable sensation of his bondage came upon him again. Unsure of whether the child was ready or not to receive the spirit he imparted it into her anyway. The flash and the transfer occurred instantly, with beauty only seen through beast eyes, leaving behind only a crying babe, and a fleeing dragon.   
Just before his strength wore out completely, White touched down onto his mountain peak, collapsing into a pile below the welcoming familiar trees.   
_I have done it._ White finally made it known, with weariness but finality. How is my brother?   
_He is still, asleep._ Yellow Dragon answered. _He's gonna sleep along time, isn't he?_   
But the Yellow Dragon would receive no answer to his question. For now, White had to rest. And three years past by. 

  
_She is an abomination!_ Green Dragon shrieked. All the Dragons looked through Whites eyes as he starred upon the child. Little Catharine stood upon his mountain with her shimmering childish face.   
_She is a half-dragon! A freak of your own hand White Dragon!_ Blue Dragon added to the buzz of emotion that filled all the Dragons.   
_Half of a dragon is all we will need._ White Dragon reassured his comrades. He had made a mistake, infusing into the young Catharine the Dragon spirit too early. Her human spirit had only left her body halfway, leaving room for only half of the Dragon spirit. And now she had two spirits, two identities, floating in her singular soul. Starring down at the impish creature White could not help but dwell on the paradoxical ambiguity of the child. But something about her delighted him. She stood with poise too perfect for a human, but a form too small for a dragon.   
"What is your name, child?" White Dragon dipped his head down to the spirit spawned.   
"My name is..." The child's eyes flashed blood red for a moment, and her skin turned white. "Je Mappelle..." And her eyes became blue, and her skin peach. "I..." And she fainted. The summoning had awakened the dormant Dragon Spirit, but had also made the child's entire life force unstable. It would be some time before she could master her own body. But White was willing to invest the effort.   
That of course, is only a part of the story. I was asleep on Marbule for some time. I am not sure as to why FATE saw fit to bring the brunt of it's power onto me, and keep me in a perpetual sleep. But as soon as Harle appeared and began to grow up with the White Dragon I began to have nightmares. I am not sure, but such tumultuous feelings could have been caused by Harle's own confused spirit.   
Finally, Serge awoke me from the slumber I had endured so long. My brother White Dragon, spoke to me quickly, telling me everything I had missed since my sleep had begun. Though he communicated with professional emotions, I could tell he was very glad to see me awake at last.   
I let my mind wander from Dragon to Dragon, speaking with them a moment to confirm the stories each had. But as my mind wandered it touched a soul I had never yet touched before.   
_Bonjour Monsieur._ The new Dragon spirit said to me, in my mind.   
_Who are you?_ I guessed that it was Harle, as my brother had told me. But her feminine voice and accent surprised me just the same.   
_Je Mappelle Harle. Et tu?_   
_Black Dragon._ I could only guess at her question, but a burst of pleasure erupted from her at the mention of my name.   
_Belle! You are awake! How do you feel?_   
_Fine. _   
_You must forgive moi but I have to take care of some buiznezz now. I have much work to do. We will meet in zhe Dragon of Dragonz, non?_   
_I will be looking forward to it._ Was the only sheepish response I could muster. Her soul opened a perplexing mystery to me. And as the days passed where Serge and his group cleansed the land of human technology, I found myself touching Harle, deeper and deeper. I am still unsure if she ever noticed but I would push deeply into her and watch what she watched, and feel what she felt. Though the reason as to why I was so amused escaped me then, I am glad of it.   
And then finally, FATE fell.   
The call of the Dragon of Dragons was shrill and clear. And my wings gained strength untold. I crossed the sky in moments. It had been millenniums since I had stretched out the leather of my back, and the fresh air was perfect and pure. My brother let out his calling roar, and we all gathered onto him, combining out bodies and spirits together. Harle was the last to emerge, leaping from the top of Chronopolis she took flight. Her body struck us hard, as if she was angry, and she sunk into the black depths of our unconscious thoughts.   
Being in the Omni-Dragon is an experience I still have trouble explaining. Through my eyes I saw the souls of all the Dragons in the forms of a gaseous cloud that resembled their color. And we all floated together in a tight group, able to float about but not able to cross the invisible line that was the body of the Dragon. Whomever had the strongest will controlled the Omni-Dragon, and it was not a difficult task for White Dragon to take command. Though Green and Red tried to steal this power from him in the beginning, their minds were nothing compared to his calmness and serenity.   
_It is finally time to deal with this Arbiter of the Chrono Cross._ Red Dragon rumbled with delight. The aspect of testing the power of the Omni-Dragon was the desire of all present, save the purple form that lingered towards the rear.   
_Harle? Are you alright?_ I asked. Like forceful blows I could feel the disturbing thoughts of the other Dragons. She was nothing but a pawn, and to show her compassion was most improper. I ignored them. Harle? She didn't answer, but only hovered. Her thoughts were confused, and her spirits began to churn inside of her.   
_Ha!_ The Green Dragon bellowed with glee. _Serge is no match for our POWER!_ The fight had gone off to an acceptable start. Our pure elemental power seemed to be too much, even for the child of the Chrono Cross. His blows were weak and useless, as our spirits phased in and out of the dimension of pure time. No matter how much emotion he put behind each blow, his physical attempts did not hurt our spirits.   
_Be kind to the human ... _Blue warned. _After all it was by his doing that we recognized our fullest power again._   
_Yeah! And 'sides that he's kinda nice._ Yellow Dragon added.   
_Enough._ White commanded the chatter to cease. _This is war between the species, not a game. We are killing only so we can survive, not to fulfill some ancient desire to fight, like the humans do. It is time to finish this._ And White called forth from each of us, the greatest powers we had buried deep within. The final attack began to build up in the head of the Omni-Dragon. We were all brought to silence by the feelings of utter-power we ourselves generated.   
_Non!_ Harle's voice suddenly shattered our reverence. _Zhose are mon amis! Zhey cannot die!_ Serge came up, slashing into us with useless effort. _Serge!_ Harle shouted as if somehow she had been injured by his blow._ Mon amour listezn to moi! Please stop zhis! You will be killed!_ But the intensity of he, and his friends could not be ignored.   
_Silence Harle._ White Dragon had been the closest figure to a father Harle had ever known, but even his words would not silence the half-dragon. _It is too late..._   
_SERGE!!!_ And suddenly Harle exploded with energies we had never felt the likes of, even in the Omni-Dragon. She screamed and roared about, gathering up her own spirits and soul inside of her. Her formless cloud came together and formed a humanoid shape with glowing red eyes. And she stole the Omni-Dragons will from White Dragon, pulling the Dragon of Dragons away from her beloved and throwing it downwards into the Stream of Time, where Serge could never reach it.   
_How is this POSSIBLE!?_ Green Dragon could not understand how a creature with only half his power, came to control their collective ultimate form.   
_Harle! STOP IT!_ Red Dragon was desperate to get back to the fight. It couldn't end this way. _NOOO!!! _   
And all I could do was watch the proceedings. Yes, I hated the humans, and their mindless domination and destruction of the planet over and over again in every time. But Harle, her spirit was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I could not help but wonder, what her very existence represented. And it was the first time that I realized that what I felt for her went beyond curiosity.   
_What is that...?_ Yellow Dragon noticed a shadowy form heading for us. The Stream of Time flowed in such a way that few mortals could ever comprehend it's vibrations fully. But nothing was supposed to exist in the purest of time, accept us in the Omni-Dragon. Indeed though, something was coming towards us.   
_So, it is here._ White Dragon suddenly emitted a feeling of graceful defeat. _Our time has run out... and our cause is lost._   
_What do you mean!?_ I had never heard my brother speak with such bitter sweet tones before.   
_That creature, will accomplish our purpose. But it will go on much further then that..._ White Dragon prophesized. ... _it will destroy every living being that exists in the flow of time._ It was the Time Devourer, with a wilted human figure resting on it's brow. We engaged it in combat, fruitlessly of course, but we fought with all the strength we could gather. Suddenly it ejected these tentacles, that wrapped about our glorious body. It's purpose was clouded but it pulled us towards itself. Every element had been used. There existed nothing, both in time and out, that could save us. And we struck the side of the Time Devourer, impacting his body once and then sinking into it. He absorbed our ultimate form, and incorporated our vast power into his body.   
_YAA!_ White Dragons spirit suddenly flashed and sparked with unnatural black energies. And he fell limp. The Time Devourer imposed it's will, upon our power. We became one.   
"Do not try and fight me." The voice was audible rather then telepathic. "We are the ultimate power of all time." The voice of a human girl?   
_What's that?_ Red Dragon suddenly announced, as a cut in time suddenly ripped open to reveal a familiar scene. It was the sands and shores of Oppassa beach. With all the power granted him, and with all his friends beside him, Serge emerged into the Stream of Time. He moved with timidity, but his weapon was cold and unloving, as well as unimpressed with the enemy before it. This was to be the final battle, to defend his home and he would die rather then watch his loved ones perish.   
_Serge?_ Harle finally spoke, the first time since she led us into the gullet of the Time Devourer.   
_Are you alright?_ I asked again, but her spirits were cold to me, pushing ahead only to Serge.   
And the battle began. Each blow was a cut across our bodies, and they hurt and bled. This time we were playing for real and only life or death remained.   
_What is that? I can hear a melody!_ I was perhaps the first to notice, but something had begun within the battle, beyond our abilities to reason. And the music continued with every blow of the battle and with every element thrown.   
But even with all of the fighting I could not pull my attention from Harle. She huddled far from the battle. Every once in awhile she would let out a squeak of terror, or call on Serge to try and reason away his anger. But his anger was just, and she knew it would not be cooled by her soundless words. She pushed forward anyway. Life had given her one gift by presenting her with infinite challenges. It had given her determination unlike anything I had ever seen. At that moment, I loved her.   
The pain spun with thrusting knife blows, as the melody completed and the fullest of Serge's own power came to bear. A portion, the guiding mind of the creature, fought and tore itself free. And it fell gracefully to the waiting Serge. The Time Devourer's power flowed like blood from the wound. But as the ruling creature began to crumble, our spirits became the bursting point. Our battle scars were only the starting scratches of what great agonies awaited us. And when all was done we floated lifelessly through the Stream of Time. Serge stepped back towards his portal, his mission completed and his life fulfilled. Harle flew forwards towards him, her arms reaching out and grasping as if she hoped to catch a strand of his garment between her fingers. Just before he stepped through the cut in time he glanced back to watch Harle. His eyes stared cold, and unmoving for a moment. And then he stepped all the way through and the opening sealed behind him

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. . Harle flew forward into the continuous nothing of time.   
Screaming and thrashing, she spun and cried, and I wished I could move enough to go to her. She bled out great puddles of her own blood as she did her angry perplexed dance. The only thing I can remember after that was that there was a great light, and great energies coming from Harle. And then I was falling through the skies back towards the planet. I can only guess she saved all the Dragons some how, with some deep power. 

  
"...so I have zhis strange power in moi?" Harle asked, her arms still tightly around her storyteller.   
"I never could figure out what it was." He replied, with light emotion. "I think it may have something to do with your two spirits."   
"Maybe.' Harle agreed.   
"And what about you, mate?" Kidd turned her head so that Black was in her view, along with the horizon and the sky.   
"It was luck really, how I was born." A sigh touched the tip of Blacks tounge as he looked out not at the ocean, but the city below. "I fell straight into the middle of the city, completely by accident. My fall killed many, and injured more. When I finally came to myself I was laying in the rubble, dying and with great pain. Just beyond my nose was a boy, who had been injured by some of the debris as well. To save his life, and mine, I combined our essences together, like you and Catharine, Harle." And he rose a hand to squeeze her grip. "I never could have guessed he was the son of the leader of Dimenial. For days the people of the city looked for the cause and guessed at the reason that their village fell. Since I was in the human's body no one found my dragon body. The boy's name was Wreath, the sun of Minura. She is the only one in this village that knows who I am. And because I am still half her son, she accepts me as a mother should."   
"So, we are zhe zame zhen?"   
"Yes. When we combined into one form, I lost some of my characteristics and gained some of Wreaths. I no longer hate humans, but I never feel completely comfortable around them." Black glanced sideways at Kidd for a moment. "Present company excluded of course."   
"Yeah, of course." Kidd smiled halfway.   
"Why iz it you can change into zhe dragon form, and I cannot?"   
"You can. You just have to learn how to do it right without going berserk. You see..." Black turned in Harle's arms to come face to face with her. He touched her nose with his index finger daintily. "this form you are in is a result of your dominant human spirit. If you push your human spirit back you will make your dragon spirit dominant and you will change forms. It just takes some practice. If you do it because of a great surge of emotion, you will go insane... and.... well we both saw what happened when you do that."   
"Oui." Harle agreed. 

  
All of this weighed on Harle's mind as the days passed. Minura took care of Black and his friends in even more ways then Black had bragged she would. Good food every night and free reign of the city by day. But even with all this freedom Harle found herself coping with the boredom she so often battled. With Black's love beside her, it was much easier though. And the horrible feelings and storms of her soul were distant and forgotten. She would endure, for Black. It seemed a pitifully small sacrifice for what he gave in return. And so it went for two weeks. Harle managed to find little things to amuse herself (though she often got into a bit of trouble along the way). And every once in awhile Black would come out with a treat for her, and they would go off and do something together. Sometimes Kidd would tag along, but sometimes the two were all alone. 

  
"That one, over there looks like the lighthouse."   
"Well, zhat one lookz like zhe petite horse, non?"   
"What about that one? It looks like a tree."   
"Zhat one lookz like a scary skull!"   
Black and Harle lay back on the red and white checkered blanket. The ground held them only inches high as they sprawled themselves out in the glorious sun. Breezes danced across the hills, touching the lovers with invisible hands. The two had made a picnic lunch and had ventured out to a high hill a few miles from Dimenial. A large tree, with wide and bent branches covered most of the hill. But the two had made their rest out of the shadow and in the sun. As the clouds swirled about above them they played a child's game of naming the shapes they saw in the sky.   
"And what I see, is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen before." Black's voice suddenly turned from playful to sensuous in the same breath.   
"Where iz zhat?" Harle scanned the skies, trying to find the glorious cloud to which Black referred. Only after several moments of searching did she feel Black's eyes upon her face. And she turned onto her side to see him starring into her.   
"I love you." His voice was so soft, and her shoulders shivered with the words.   
"I love you." She replied.   
"I love you."   
"I love you." And back and forth the two went. It caused such bliss to hear those sacred words over and over again. At last, after so long they were both complete beings. And with every proclamation of love they inched closer and closer. Soon their bodies lay directly beside one another, without a single crack to divide them. And their lips... came closer... and closer... Their words fell to whispers. Harle had never been kissed before, not in this way. She ached to satisfy him, but he took everything slowly and at his own pace. And she could live with that. Finally their lips were only a hair's length from each other. Only their breath could separate them. And....   
"BUUUUUUURRRRP! Oi! This is a bloody good sandwich!" Kidd announced with pride from her corner of the picnic blanket. "Oh... sorry mates." She responded to the flaming dirty looks she received. "Did I interrupt somethin'?"   
"Ignore her." Black turned his attention back to Harle.   
"Oui." Harle agreed. "And where were we? Ah oui! I love you."   
And Black chuckled as he moved in close again.   
"... don't move a musscle mon amour... " Harle's words were soft, and very pointed. But the love had left her eyes, and her grip suddenly tightened about him in an unnatural response to affection.   
"Okay." Black's body became stiff, and he waited for further instructions. As softly as she could, but not sparring any force Harle threw Black aside. A spark cut the air as one of her throwing cards soared upwards towards the highest tree branch. A human shaped shadow, caught the card between his fingers, bending it and throwing it away in one motion. With the realization of Harle's actions Black sommursalted to his feet, and Kidd beside him. Kidd didn't wait, running straight up the tree. Using one of the lower branches as a spring board she catapulted herself towards the intruder, blade drawn. His hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her flight, and he tossed her back to the ground.   
"Who are you?" Black called upwards.   
"I'm surprised you hadn't recognized my scent Black Dragon." It was Juku's voice.   
"Come out of there!" Black demanded, though he was unsure if such a demand could be enforced. But Juku complied on his own, landing with his characteristic silence before the fighting group.   
"I would say that I have given you two ample time to explore your emotions and rest." Juku stated, clothed with a brown and green cloak. It was a camouflage color that let him blend into the tree above with ease. "It is time that you came with me and we began your real training. Or have you forgotten that there is still someone out to kill you?"   
"We have not forgotten!" Harle replied with fire. Such an interruption birthed anger, and it threw everyone on edge. Juku did absolutely nothing to relieve this tension, and instead played off it.   
"Tell me Juku, what is your connection with Spirit? How do you know everything you know?" Black flicked both writs forward, flailing his battle fan blades in a a fluttering display of skill before brigning them to rest in each hand. "And how did Tatzuna of Sewqra know you?"   
"Your mother, Minura knows me as well." Juku added to the list.   
"Answer me!"   
"You are so small minded." Juku shook his head, squeezing his forehead with frustrated fingers. "You think that Spirit is your problem alone? There is allot more at stake here then you are letting yourselves believe. Come, we must leave before Spirit arrives here." The winds shifted about his body suddenly. A new sensation tickled Juku's mind. "It is too late. She is here." 

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	19. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 18

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 18 – "Oh Black! Where have you gone?" -=- 

Serge was the hero, of the days past. But now he found himself participating with a woman of tainted dreams and unearthly origins. Can his hero's spirit attain victory against deceit? Let us turn back the clock to three weeks prior, and move our story to the familiar docks of Termina. 

  
The box held aggression, displaying loose splinters of wood waiting to wedge themselves into human skin. But Serge hardly noticed all these hazards, sitting upon the crate. Termina had been his home for several days as he, and Spirit, made plans for the future. Before him a ship bobbed up and down gently on the water, its smooth motion concealing its great stamina. Such a craft stood up worthy of a long voyage. Resting in the docks and preparing itself for the journey the ship was a deep green in color, and at least a hundred and fifty feet from bow to stern. Perhaps not the largest ship ever made but it would house he, and his friends for their trip to Teodorrin. Even now, the hired demi-humans put their muscles to the test, heaving heavy crates onto the boat. The moving slowed, and the accented chatter began to lull to silence. Soon the loading and preparation would be complete and Serge would have to abandond his seat.   
"You seem troubled Serge. Do you want to talk?" It was Spirits voice. Serge sighed internally, hoping Leena would have found him instead, but Spirit continued to prove a great help these last few days.   
"I don't want to trouble you more."   
"Trouble?" Her voice had that distant and royal touch of a European accent, granting her the aura of a woman with taste and poise. "You have given me no trouble."   
"But you hired this ship. And the crew to sail it. That must have cost a great deal of money." Serge pointed out, his eyes still on the sailing vessel.   
"You're right." Spirit agreed. "This ship was expensive, but money can always be earned again. The cause is much greater then any wealth I have."   
"Do you..." Serge leaned towards Spirit, keeping his voice even, but a waver could not help but trickle out. "Do you really think Harle is evil? I mean, really evil."   
"Ha! Of course she is." Spirit beckoned for Serge to join her, as she turned to walk the docks. With a weak push Serge leapt down beside her and matched her pace. "I know you used to know her, but you have to understand child, that she was lying to you. Every word she ever spoke was a lie."   
"How do you know what she said to me?" Serge guarded himself, loathed to trust this person so easily, but she did have tremendous resources behind her. Such resources could make any world-saving events much eaiser to accomplish.   
"It doesn't matter what she said." Spirit responded with a calming gesture. "She always tries to win over those she wishes to kill, and to eat. She flirted with you, right? Asked you if you were dreaming of her?"   
"Yes." Serge let his mind stumble off guard at the accuracy of Spirits statement.   
"She is the enemy Serge. Her words are worth less then the ground she stands on."   
"Why are you so sure she will be on Teodorrin? She could be in Termina for all we know."   
"Trust me." Spirit spoke her words with all the softness she could drudge up from the wasteland of her soul. It had been several days since her mate had made contact. Harle must have defeated him, and now possessed the Dragon Spirit Dagger. What an oaf. He was better off dead anyway, if he could not even protect the dagger.   
"Where will we head first?"   
"There is a small village in the eastern regions of Teodorrin, called Nunia. I have some connections there." It was the last place that her mate had been, since he had contacted her.   
"You have connections all the way in Teodorrin?"   
"My friend." She laughed a light but warning laugh. "You ask too many questions. We are fighting for the survival of humanity right? It is us against the dragons. Why do you question help, from another human?"   
"Everyone has a motive." Serge turned to face her, his eyes coated with a threatening edge. "And I am still wondering how you know about the dragons, without one of these." And he held up his Dragon Gem ring.   
"Too many questions Serge... to many questions..." 

--- 

  
Spirit stood atop the highest tower of the castle. She surveyed the land and the people that walked down in Nunia below her. Serge and his entire group had dispersed amongst the city, each with their own agenda and set of questions. It was a perfect idea, to send Serge against Harle. He alone existed as the only creature alive that she feared, and to employ him into her service kept him close, a perfect way to keep an eye on him until she finished her tasks.   
But he moved too slow. At this rate they would be in Nunia for days before anyone asked the proper question. And so, Spirit leapt from the tower, intent on starting her new friends on the road to destruction. 

  
"Rum." Spirit ordered before even sitting on the barstool. Nunia was such a primitive place, and it made her long for a room in a Porre castle. She wondered, touching her lip with a stray index finger, if the bar keeper even washed his glasses. Soon the shot glass was delivered but she didn't take it, instead swirling about the liquid and scanning each face of the bar. All eyes were on her, though everyone spoke and acted as though they hadn't noticed the woman. Silver hair like hers, had a way of attracting attention. But none of the people she saw looked as though they would make a good target. Her eyes wandered across the bowed head, of the man beside her. His eyes were shut, but tears still lingered.   
"Can I buy you a drink?" She offered dubiously. He would make a perfect example.   
"Vodka." The man opened his eyes, but still stared down into the empty glassware littered in front of him.   
"One vodka over here." Spirit shouted, and then turned back to her prey. "You look like you've been run through the mill. What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"   
"Are you knew in town?" The man asked, finally locking his eyes onto the feminine form beside him. She seemed as though she genuinely cared about his condition and so he decided to humor her if it would get him some more to drink.   
"Me and my friends just got here today."   
"Then you haven't heard."   
"Heard what?" Excellent. He was about to earn his drink.   
"About the dragon."   
"Dragon!?" Spirit repeated his words louder, to be sure that the hulking man sitting not to far away, would hear.   
"Yeah. A few days ago this giant purple dragon suddenly showed up. Actually, it was some clown girl that done turned into that dragon thing. We thought she was from the circus, when we saw 'er. But then she went and destroyed half the city. My wife... she was killed when the monster blew up some of the buildings. She was my life, you know? I just cant... go on."   
"Is there something I can do for you?" Spirit asked, clapping his shoulder gently. It was done. The drunkard had explained everything that needed to be explained.   
"Another drink?" His eyes flashed with a spark of hopefulness, and Spirits stomach turned. Humanity was such a waste.   
"Here." And she pushed several gold pieces towards the broken individual. "Thanks for your time."   
"..." The man couldn't answer, only starring down at the gold coins. When the thought that he had just sold his wife's death story for some drink finally hit him, he could do nothing but order several more rounds for himself.   
"You made your point Senorita." It was Greco. He had been sitting by and watching not to far away. "You did not have to drag it out of that man."   
"What do you mean, Greco?" Spirit asked with laughing eyes.   
"You wanted to make a point, that Harle was here, ci? And that she hurt and killed."   
"You are as observant as you are large, my friend." And Spirit left the bar. Her work had been done, though Greco was far more on target then she would have thought him capable. Serge did not recruit foolishy, a fact she would consider as she continued her plan. After all, she wouldn't want to betray the trust of her loyal companions, at least not yet. 

  
"I don't trust the woman." Greco stood fast to his point. Something about her bothered him deeply. A psychic urge? The way she spoke? Her secrets? It didn't matter what the purest reason was, Greco would not give up his thought. And he was not alone.   
Serge had heard his comrades speaking, whispering, grouping together in corners of Nunia. And so he called a meeting to discuss Spirit and their future with his assembled group. They had met out in the woods, building a large campfire to celebrate the night. Though it had been designated private, Spirit feared not the wrath of a boy and his horde. And so she hid at the top of an all seeing tree, standing on the branch with her arms folded across her chest.   
"I understand how you feel." Radius, one of her few supporters spoke up. "But we cannot forget our truest purpose. The Dragon gods are all alive, and I am sure their thirst for revenge has not subsided."   
"And why is this our responsibility?" The young Glenn finally spoke. He wore his Dragon Gem proudly on a small chain about his neck. "I am tired of this fight. Who is to say we are the ones who must go?"   
"Glenn..." Serge spoke, and his voice was alone in the night. Everyone respected him, from the last battle they fought. "... and everyone else. It was a difficult fight the first time, I know that. But you all were once the hopes of everyone, everywhere, and in every time. That is not a week long commitment." Serge had never spoken like this when he had first began his adventures. Fun, freedom, energy had been his tools. Everyone moved any way they wished, pursuing whatever they desired but somehow they wound up moving in perfect time with him. That timing, that blessing, had been lost.   
"So what are you saying then, Serge?" Radius asked across the campfire.   
"We have to trust Spirit, for now. If something happens and we are tricked, we are still many and she is only one." And Serge stood, preparing to leave the campfires to find a place to sleep. But his steps stopped, and he turned to say one last thing. "If we do not step up, who else will? Not even the Chrono Cross foretold this would happen."   
"Yes Serge." Spirit smiled a wicked smile. "Rally your troops around me. After all, you and your little friends can handle whatever I throw at you." What a naive child. In all the civilizations and peoples that had lived, and would live, what made him so terribly sure his under populated vegetable garden world was her target? "I think I know where to go next." She stretched her arms out over her head, cracking her back. "Sewqra." Her mate had made mention of Harle's intention on heading there, and was to follow. But he had not reported back. That was most likely where he had fallen, if not on the way to there from Nunia. 

--- 

  
"You!"   
"You."   
Tatzuna and Spirit stood face to face, in the midst of the ailing city of Sewqra. Construction still plodded on since Harle, Black, and Kidd had left. The two had recognized each other, leaving confusion behind both in Serge's party and the village itself.   
"Why have you come here, Sparrow." Tatzuna did not call Spirit, Spirit. Instead she called her by the name Sparrow.   
"Old woman, I thought you died in Euore."   
"You aren't that lucky."   
"Apparently not." Sparrow let out a small yawn, letting the action ring out across her audience.   
"Why have you come here?"   
"You know why old woman. Where is Jonathan?" Sparrow inquired about her mate, with little emotion. He was not her prime concern.   
"Your man whore?" Tatzuna raised an eye brow hoping for a heated response. But such petty remarks did not rattle Sparrow. "He is dead."   
"The idiot." Sparrow moaned her words. Of course he was dead. "Where is the dagger?"   
"The dagger is not here."   
"Old woman." Sparrow drew a blade of her own. "I don't think you understand. I'm only asking this nicely because I don't have the time to torture you."   
"Harle doesn't have it, if that is what you are hoping."   
"Who does then? You? Where have you hidden it?" Sparrow asked, spraying her questions quickly as her temper began to beat. But Tatzuna stood quietly, smiling a half smile and enjoying the anger finally elicited. "Fine then. I will find it myself." And Sparrow moved to kill Tatzuna with her blade. But the steel never made it to her flesh. Instead, a swoop swung down and clashed into the blade easily.   
"What are you doing Spirit?" Serge asked, holding his weapon in way of the blade. He never even held a stance, the motion was so fluid and natural.   
"Serge, get out of my way. This woman is in league with the Dragons. Cant you see that?" Sparrow let out an exasperated sigh. "Cant you tell? Harle has been here!"   
"What is this dagger you are asking about?" Serge had not yet heard anything about a dagger.   
"It is a weapon capable of defeating the Dragons with just one stab. It can even kill the Omni-Dragon." And Spirit withdrew her blade. "Wouldn't that be allot easier then fighting it for hours and days?"   
"Why haven't you mentioned this weapon before?"   
"Ha!" Tatzuna shouted from her vantage point. "You seem like such a savoir. So you can fool little boys, but you cannot fool me. Juku has the blade, and you will never find it." And with that said she threw her hand outwards to point towards the woods. "Now go! I order you to leave my village."   
"What? You 'order' me?" And Sparrow flew in again for her attack, knocking Serge aside. But the Serge was not so easily thrown and he leapt up, spun about and slammed his weapon into Sparrows legs, sending her tripping to the ground.   
"That is enough Spirit, or Sparrow, or whatever you are." Serge lowered his weapon. "Let's go. Your blade is not here, and neither is Harle." 

  
Serge walked alone with Draggy, up in the front of the small militia. Spirit lagged close behind, but not close enough to engage in any conversation. She had been a great deal more quiet then she usually was, perhaps unwilling to explain herself. But her purpose had not faded and she would not leave the group. Serge, at least, admired her determination. Beyond Spirit the rest of the group trudged along, the larger and easier moving helping the smaller and slower going creatures through the tangles. Draggy had been able to pick up Harle's scent almost instantly, despite the long stretch of days that must have past since she had left. They were lucky to have avoided any smell concealing rains or great winds.   
For some time the group traveled, moving slowly amongst the trees, doubeling back, circling, waiting, sniffing, and then continuing. And soon the terrain evolved, changing its form to hills and meadows, restrained only by the omnipresent mountains in every direction. Grumblings began to reach Serge, all the way in the lead of the group. Most of them had to do with their guide, Spirit. While others, such as Glenn, began to wonder aloud what they were doing on such an adventure at all.   
As they traveled Serge noticed a growing amusement in Spirit. With every step forward her lips seemed to smile a fraction more, as if some long joke was playing out slowly in her mind. But she would never tell the source of her interest. As the days passed and the ground changed she continued to limit the possibilities of their destination. She did this until only one place remained before the group, of anyworth. Dimenial. She could leave Serge and all of his kind behind, but she decided that they might be of greater use to her near Harle. How fitting if this would all end where it had began... so many years ago. 

  
The city poked above the horizon, an unseeing distance that offered no hope for a rescue. Boots digging into the ground, tearing up chunks of grass, Spirith stepped across the final shadow and towards the small band of friends before her. Breezes whipped about her, as if trying to beat back her bloody hands away from the innocent pleasures she moved towards. Serge and his friends had stayed behind, out of sight at her own request. They were a surprise treat, for later.   
"You are so small minded." Juku shook his head, squeezing his forehead with frustrated fingers. "You think that Spirit is your problem alone? There is allot more at stake here then you are letting yourselves believe. Come, we must leave before Spirit arrives here." The winds shifted about his body suddenly. A new sensation tickled Juku's mind. "It is too late. She is here."   
"Juku. It has been some time since we have met." Spirit did not smile, but instead radiated mediocre amusment in her tone of voice. She seemed not to care about anything at all, rather then getting the formalities of their reunion over and done with.   
"Sparrow. Or is it Spirit now? A delight as always." The tension that Juku felt, rippled out to Harle, and Black, and Kidd. All of them stood and moved towards Juku with caustious steps. Fully aware of the combat that may insue, they spread themselves out that they may be easier to hit.   
"I thought I told you to stay back." Spirit did not take her eyes from Juku, but still directed her question as Serge, and his friends gathering up behind her.   
"...Serge..." Both Kidd and Harle whispered the name together. Harle let her face crack, with feelings of uneasiness and past memories. Reading his expressions, and motions she could see he was not thinking pleasant thoughts. Of all standing there, she was the best suited to determine Serge's fighting stance, having been opposite his blade more times then she wished to remember. Was he here... to kill her? So everything had come about full circle and she could only stand and watch, and hope that somehow everything would work out for the best, both for her and for Serge. She would not deny him at least some of her emotions, love, and hate. Though she knew how little she really meant to him.   
"So you have brought along friends. Meaningful allies, in this case." Juku noted. "The one who destroyed the Omni-Dragon and saved the day." For a moment Juku's intimidation rested on Serge. "Your time as hero is over. Go home and enjoy your wife and your village."   
"This is not about being a hero." Serge responded, trying his best to match the edge of Juku's voice. "It is about protecting my loved ones."   
"You have tainted him that much?" Juku returned to Spirit again. "You know the blessings of the Chrono Cross have left him. He is as much use to you, as he is to me."   
"Such big talk..." Spirit released a cutting smile. " for a man who runs and hides like a child."   
"Serge!" Kidd could not keep silent. She had never found out that Serge had regained his memories, and even when Harle had told her, she never believed it possible. "Mate! Whadda' ya doing way out here?"   
"Kidd." Serge nodded stiffly at the woman who had called him. How she had gotten this far and managed to get herself wrapped up in such a mess was beyond him to reason. But she stood on the wrong side, and it was not the first time. "What are you doing with Harle? Have you joined her?"   
"Joined...?" Kidd looked almost appalled at the question. How far had Serge degenerated? This wasn't some war game. This was real life. "Serge come off it mate! This is all wrong and ya know it!"   
"Look Serge." Spirit gestured weakly towards Juku and the group there. "Harle is here."   
"Bonjour..." Harle's greeting faded fast, but she had not the strength to continue.   
"... hello Harle." His answer was unexpected and laden with heavy guilt. "I'm sorry. But you know why I am here."   
"And so you see!" Spirit laughed aloud with hate and sarcasm mixing in her voice. "Serge is here to save the day by helping me get my dagger back, and to entrap Harle in it for all time."   
"Sparrow you are...." Juku began to dump out his empty threats and boasts of his own power. The banter continued but Harle did not hear. All she kept hearing was that one name over and over again. Sparrow? It sounded familiar.   
"Sparrow?" Harle suddenly called. "Zhat name..."   
"Harle, be quiet." Juku commanded. But she had grasped hold of the idea and would not let it go.   
"Zhat waz zhe name of mon mozher."   
"And it took you all of this time to realize that?" Spirit asked, her mouth gapping with unfair cackling. "I am your mother, Catharine! I raised you in Euore until you destroyed everything. I have to say, thank you very much daughter, for saving me the trouble."   
"Non...." And Harle stumbled back, walking blindly backwards. She suddenly crashed into a body. It was Black and his arms were about her instantly, steadying her swaying legs.   
"Yes, you stupid girl. And the other Spirit, was Jonathan. Your father!"   
Harle remained silent, pressing her back hard into Black. She covered her ears with her hands, shutting out the light from her eyes. All of this could not be true. No! It could not! But deep down, it all made morbid sense.   
"Enough of this." Sparrow, her happiness complete in Harle's suffering, turned back to the matter at hand. "The dagger. Give it to me now, or I will take it from you."   
"You mean this dagger?" And Juku slowly unsheathed the precious Dragon Spirit weapon from his side. Sparrows eyes grew wide and sparkled with the radiance of her prize. "HARLE! BLACK! KIDD!" Juku suddenly shouted, keeping himself forward and moving his arms and legs into a fighter's stance. "Run NOW! I will fight Sparrow here! Go!"   
"Serge." Sparrow turned her back, in blatant disregard for Juku's attack. "Listen to me. That dagger is the dagger of the Dragon Spirit. If we can only injure Harle with it, she will be sealed up inside it forever!" Serge starred back blankly. This combat did not feel right, and his weapon pushed against his hand, reluctant to obey its master's desire. "I need your help Serge. Whoever wields the dagger controls the power of all the Dragons trapped inside."   
"And you want this power for yourself?" Serge asked back quickly.   
"No!" She seemed surprised at his answer. "I am a human, who just seeks to end this tired old conflict finally."   
Juku did not take Sparrows back lightly, and charged for her with all the speed his legs would grant him. Spirit did not turn, hoping her expression and words were enough to convince the half-fooled hero. Just before the Dragon Spirit found it's mark Serge stepped around Sparrow, throwing his weapon down with expert quality. Juku's blow was blocked and he jumped back, still in his posture. Serge swung about his weapon in an expert display, to show he meant to carry out what he thought was right. Sparrow stood right beside him, holding her own silver dagger. Slowly, as they realized Serge's silent call, all his friends all began to draw their weapons and move to form a circle around Juku. He was to be the epicenter of a massacre.   
"Kidd." Black suddenly struck Kidd in the arm, to bring her mind from the battle and back to their own situation. "Here. Take Harle." Black thrust his love from his body, and into the arms of Kidd. He pulled back the tails of her hat and kissed her on the forehead. It was not a lover's kiss. It was a goodbye kiss. "Take her and run. Never ever, look back. GO!" Blacks shout sent Kidd into motion, and Harle was a mindless weight in Kidd's grasp. Black closed his eyes, folded his hands together across his chest, and drew in a slow controlled breath. With a flash of bright pure light, Black Dragon soared skyward, intent on helping Juku defend the blade and survive.   
Juku noticed the incoming Dragon the moment the creature hit the sky. As soon as the mighty beast fell upon the fighters Juku leapt high into the air, and far from the crowd forming about him. Serge and Spirit moved with him in exact speeds and skills, but the rest lingered behind, transfixed instead on the more familiar evil of the Black Dragon. But before they could prime their weapons or dig for their elements Black swooped down over them and unleashed a pent up Omega Black that tossed the warriors about like hay in the breeze. Though some were familiar, there was only twenty or so warriors fighting the Black Dragon. And he noticed that some were missing. Perhaps Serge could not find them all, to drag on the meaningless crusade.   
Juku took care of himself quiet well. His range of motion extended by the lessoning of enemies present caused for a dramatic increase in fighting skill. He wielded the Dragon Spirit with all the power of any professional fighter. Fighting meant survival, and he knew how to survive. Serge flew in, head on with his weapon at the ready. Slashing it downwards Serge went for the feet, forcing Juku to jump into the air. Sparrow flew above, waiting for him. Juku dipped down to avoid her onslaught and instead brought his feet up, to crash into her exposed stomach. Serge kept Juku sufficiently occupied as Sparrow made her short recovery.   
"This is all very amusing, I must say." Juku interjected in a lull of the fight. "But it is time to take it up a step." Gripping the dagger in a perfect manor, and touching the blade to his forehead he began to summon the powers hidden deep inside of the terrible weapon. A great yellow aura suddenly surrounded Juku, his power growing. "Omega.... YELLOW!" And the ground shifted and quacked at the summoning he had just brought about. Cracks of great length ate away at the picnic field, as crags and spikes of pure earth sprouted forth. But when the dust cleared, Sparrow and Serge were unharmed in the midst of the torn grind.   
"Non!" Harle fought against Kidd's grip with all she could muster. Her eyes were a perfect mirror, reflecting each blow and element thrown at the glorious Black Dragon. She could not bring herself away, "Let moi go! I must go and help! I MUZT!"   
"MATE!" Kidd squeezed her as tight as she could, hopping for some submission from the struggling girl-dragon. "Listen to me! I'm gonna let ya go, but ya gotta run away! I'm gonna go and help Juku. This is all for you, mate. Don't screw up and stick around."   
"...ou...oui..." Harle finally agreed, letting her body grow limp. The fact that all this fighting, was to preserve her life, calmed her raging spirit. She knew it to be true. And Kidd left her all alone on her own battlefield. Trying to fulfill her promise Harle began to run back for Dimenial, but her legs were weak, and her knees unwilling. Too soon, she fell, and she found that she could not stand up again.   
Juku, even with the summoned strength of the Yellow Dragon still found his fight hard, and the road to victory hazy, and bleak. The strength of Serge and Sparrow, two professional dragon hunters, was perhaps too much even for him. Splitting their efforts Sparrow worked on the fight from the front, as Serge attacked from the rear. Unable to fight under such precise calculations all Juku could do was dodge about, and keep himself alert for another opportunity to summon more of the dagger's power. Suddenly, Sparrow's foot came rocketing from nowhere, impacting harshly against his stomach. It was the first solid connection since the battle had begun, and Juku felt the blow.   
Taking advantage of the momentary lapse in defense Serge moved in, double-blade spinning about wildly. It was to be a death-blow. But a flash of red exploded against the blue sky and a Fire Ball cut the battle, slamming into Serge and tossing him aside. Kid jumped in front of Juku, slashing out with one motion towards Sparrow. The attack moved with needed perfection, strong enough to send Sparrow's own blade flying, and for a moment Juku had peace.   
"Prepare yourselves, for the full powers of this dagger." Juku threatened, letting the energies flow through him, and through the weapon. He began to glow a rainbow of colors, in a random assortment.   
"You still don't understand..." Sparrow caught her blade, and charged back towards the fighter. "... only if you're body is in perfect harmony with the dagger..." And she stepped on Kidd's head, leaping over her. "... will you ever channel its FULL POWER!" Sparrow moved in for the strike. But Juku rejected her motion and his blade turned her weapon into shards of metal. 

  
Black flew down low again to unleash his black powers on the ground below, and on those who fought him without cause but full of purpose. As he came in range of them, elements of all colors and shapes and sizes flew from the ground. Some impacted, others didn't and flew out behind him. He did not feel the pain. He only saw Harle and his fury sent the fighters scrambling for cover. But, as shards of ice pelted his skin, and blood began to flow, he wondered how much longer he could last on emotion alone. And he sucked in all the breath he could contain, readying himself for the next attack. 

  
"This dagger is not just yours to command!" Juku let his voice ring high, his eyebrows knitting together ferocuiosly. He could still feel that there was large untapped portions lying in the dagger. But even his skills could not reach them. "Heeeya!" With Kidd doing her best to keep both attackers back, Juku dug down to the very bottom of his strength, and prepared one last time to call on the dagger for the help he so desperately needed.   
"Mate! Stop!" Kidd tried her best to slow Serge's furry down, but her words melted off his shoulders.   
"Kidd. I'm sorry." She heard his whisper distantly, and she knew this battle must have been hurting him, as much as it hurt her. For with every blow, though both persevered their flesh, they each cut their hearts to ribbons.   
"HAAAA!" And for Juku, this was it. All or nothing. Live or die. 

  
The Black Dragon released his Omega Black, with greater power then he had used ever before. Several of the attackers were simply to slow to avoid his might, and they fell to the ground unconscious and injured. Zappa felt the brunt of such power, his thick skin saving him from death. But his hammer flew out of his hands, escaping in the direction of Juku and Kidd. And just before Juku finished his energy gathering the hammer impacted his right arm. His shoulder shattered to fragments, and his grip fell to nothing. The dagger flew, high in the air for a moment before landing on the ground at Sparrow's feet.   
"No!"   
"Non!"   
"NO!"   
Yes.   
All the world slowed to nothing, as she picked up the dagger, grasping the long lost weapon in her knowing hands. She could feel it blasting through her veins, engorging her with powers beyond what she had ever hoped for. And still, the dagger had not been fully charged. Three spirits still remained. Frozen, in her mind she could see the Black Dragon above her. He was so close, his wings beat so slowly and not even his eyes could keep up with her motion now. Channeling the energies to her legs, Sparrow leapt skyward, her dagger drawn and ready to make a kill. It had been too long since it had tasted blood.   
It was not as painful as Black had first thought it would be. The blade wedged in his mighty chest, as he floated there above the meaningless battle, did nothing but pulse and bleed. An odd sensation tugged at his very essence. His spirits were being worked free from their holdings on the body. And his eyes filled with white. All at once his dragon body wilted and fell away, leaving only his humanoid form behind. With the dagger still in his ribs, blood turning his clothes even blacker, Black touched down in the center of the battle. Harle could not close her eyes, she could not turn away. Everything happened ... too fast. It happened too damned fast.   
"I would do it, a thousand times for you..." His words were plain as if he were beside her. Both silver eyes stared into her, one last time. "...HAAAAAAAAAAARRRLE!..." A dying scream. A flash of light. And his body was obliterated to powder. Every fragment spinning about the dagger's blade for a moment before becoming absorbed into it. The black gem, on the handle of the dagger suddenly began to glow. 

  
Sparrow looked down at her dagger, the metal warmed with the action it had just undergone. All about her the battle had wilted and fallen away. Serge's comrades picked themselves up, and brushed themselves off. Some were bloodied up, and had bones sticking out where bones should not be sticking out. Heals and Cures abounded as each tried to comfort the other. But how could the battle be over? Harle was still alive, laying crumpled and weeping like a child just a few steps up the hill. And Sparrow began to move towards her. Kidd rushed forward, throwing her body between the two.   
"Hoping for death, my dear?" Sparrow swatted Kidd away, with the back of her hand. "Not yet. I want you to stay alive to watch this." 

  
All Harle could see, was blood and torment. How could Black leave her all alone? And the demon woman began to step casually towards her. She threw Kidd aside like a paper doll, hardly averting her attention.   
Look at what the humans did to you! A voice suddenly whispered. They took your Black away from you! You must... kill them all... And this time she would offer up no argument to her dark desire.   
Spirit continued her saunter, uncaring, unmoving, and unstoppable. Her mother. How could she do this to her daughter? Humans! They were such disgusting, hateful creatures! And the anger, it rubbed against her heart with jagged piercing edges. But Harle's soft insides ignored the pain, her heart had turned to stone.   
"What is the matter daughter? Do not be afraid. You will join your friend soon enough." Sparrow lavished her scene of victory. Harle tore at her own face, clawing her own clothes, trying to find some way to exercise the hate and the pain she had to be feeling.   
Letting her body have its way, Harle found herself floating. She gave up her soul, letting an egg of light encase her, blinding all that watched. All would pay. None would survive. And every last human, would weep with her.   
Taking that moment to his advantage, Juku leapt for Sparrow. Her arm flew over her eyes to block the raideance of Harle, and her dagger dangled exposed, hanging on by just a few fingers. A stiff kick tore the dagger loose and Juku picked it from the ground. Running he caught Kidd by the waist, and flew into the shadows of a tree beyond. As the light faded, Sparrow gave chase, unsure of what had just happened with Harle, but uncarring. THE WEAPON! HOW HAD SHE LOST IT!? When she finally made it to the shadows that Juku had ran to, she saw them to be gone.   
Screaming curses to the wind Sparrow began to bang her fists into the ground. But a shadow overtook her bent form. And there was a terrible screaming cry, of a woman and a dragon intertwined. 

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	20. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 19

Soul of a Harlequin - by Whimsical 

  
-=- Chapter 19 – "Harle's Revenge, on All Humanity" -=- 

  
"What are you doing Kidd?" Juku stood in the doorway of Kidd's quarters, watching the girl with soft eyes but a rigid face.   
"You know what I'm doin'." Kidd responded without a tone of happiness. She threw about what few belongs she had, tying them together or throwing them into her sack. Several parcels of food also lay beside her, wrapped and ready for a journey. Her grid around her neck, and extra elements snapped into her belt she was nearly ready to leave.   
"You know that you are forbidden to leave." Juku pointed out the obvious to the child. She had done this several times in the past few months, but had yet gathered the nerve to carry out her actions to their fullest extent   
"I gotta, and I don't care about ya, or this village or nothin!" Kidd could not bring herself to look at Juku. His eyes were unnerving and she would not be disarmed, this close to leaving.   
"What is causing you such delusions? Why is it that you have to go?"   
Kidd sheathed her dagger at her side, with a dramatic and overstated action. Her face was clouded but her frown shown through.   
"Oh I see." Juku stated easily. "You want to kill the one who started all of this? Who are you going to hunt then? Harle? Serge? One of Serge's many allies? Or perhaps you will join Harle in her maddness?"   
"Shut up." Kidd sprang to her feet, drawing her blade. "SHUT UP! Or I'm gonna kick your ass so hard ya kiss the moons!" Her arm trembled obviously, with her frustration and her inability to act. All of this, staying hidden in Geal, obeying every word of Juku's, was torture to her. And she would endure it no longer.   
"You still haven't answered my question."   
"Serge." Her eyes were now locked with his, but she still would not stand down. "He started all a' this. Harle didn't deserve any of it."   
"And do you believe, that even in your wildest fantasies, you could ever bring yourself to kill Serge?" Juku shook his head, breaking the starring contest and moving further into her room. "You are still in love with him, deep down somewhere inside, you are still clinging to the past."   
"SHUT UP!" Kidd threw her sack onto her shoulder, her eyes wide with rage and her mind weak with inaction. The world writhed in turmoil now, as she sat comfortably in Geal. No, she could not hear the screaming, only the cold montone news reports that crept thierway in once in awhile.   
"Do you know why I have kept you here, for three months?" Juku asked, distantly. His eyes wandered out the front door and to the cavalcade of peasantry walking outside.   
"Ya keep tellin' me, its for my own good." Kidd spit on the ground. "Whadda I care about that?"   
"Sparrow is still out there, and she is very unhappy that she lost her weapon." His eyes snapped back onto Kidd's face, broiling with hidden intensity. "If she finds you, she will either kill you, or use you to catch Harle and then kill you. And she can kill you, so don't you dare try and fool yourself."   
"Bugger! What does it matta' ta ya anyway!?" Kidd began to push towards the door, but Juku easily stepped in front of her, to block her path.   
"There is allot more going on here, then you are allowing yourself to believe Kidd."   
"Dontcha think I know that?" Kidd responded, ready to attack for her freedom if necessary. "Don't matter! I gotta go!"   
"Still pathetic. Pathetic and selfish." Juku shook his head back and forth slowly. At this, Kidd could no longer contain herself. She thrust her blade forward and charged the warrior. But he easily deflected her onslaught, threw her aside and shut the door in front of her. When she ran to it, she found it couldn't budge. She was imprisoned now, in deed instead of word alone.   
"Do ya think this will hold me?" Kidd shouted through the door. Juku was probably already gone, content at his job completed. But Kidd would not give up. This time, she had made up her mind to go to Arni and confront Serge, no matter what the cost. It was the only action she saw as right! Convinced she had no other way to leave, Kidd pulled out a Magma Bomb element and cracked the shell. From the cracks of the earthen floor, lava flowed to make a small pool. At Kidd's gesture, and by her power the magma began to pelt the rear wall of the tiny wooden structure. By the third impact the wall blew out, spewing forth flaming splinters. Before the ground even cooled Kidd was already running, her pack loosely slung on her shoulder and her back turned against the village of Geal.   
"Kidd!" Juku's voice. Hearing him, caused her to slow and turn to look at him. Would she have to fight him? Could she even beat him, if she had to? He stood high up in a tree of the village, looking down to her. "If you succeed, bring Harle back to me here. Come to these woods when you wish to return to Geal, and I will find you and bring you in." For a few moments the two just looked at one another. Their eyes said it all. Kidd's eyes burned with passion, and Juku's were frozen with concern. With a stiff nod, Kidd went back to her running. A few moments past as she broke through the city barrier and out into the forests and fields... and evils beyond.   
"Good luck. Follow your heart, and may your spirit guide you home." Juku whispered into his hand.   
"What was that, dear brother?" Kimjuku suddenly appeared on the branch next to him. "Could it be, that you are sorry to see her go?"   
"Perhaps." Juku admitted, to his sister. "I begin to wonder if the people of this time are not as cold and unfeeling as I first thought them to be." 

  
The road stretched out for miles, sometimes marked and sometimes nothing more then instinct. It offered silence, and solace, if one could present the stamina to tame it. This one in particular seemed to stretch for miles. Only Furre, and a ship back home stood before her in her mind, while a thousand new memories lay buried in the forests of Teodorrin behind her. Harle was there, and Black. Perhaps not their bodies, but their souls rested in the woods. Kidd could hear the screaming of a hundred slain, and the weeping of a thousand dead and dying. All the world had fallen into chaos, starting with that fateful day three months ago.   
Kidd's face turned dark, as her thoughts fell onto the world. Her legs moved automatically, her mind completely gone from her body. How could all that had happened, happened? And it all occurred so easily and so frightfully quickly. That battle against Sparrow, and Serge, had been terrible. But it was only only the very beginning. The beginning of a chapter of humanity short, and bloody.   
Harle... How could she do this? Her Dragon spirit had taken complete control, and was driven to madness by her loss. And with that insane and insatiable anger, the Purple Dragon goddess began to fly across the planet, destroying whatever human habitation she came across. This was how Kidd had heard it at least, from the mouths of Hands of the Forest. Porre tried desperately to repeal the goddess. But her powers were beyond their technology, and her hide resisted even the most pointed of elements, and spears and arrows.   
Four cities, three villages, countless ships and soldiers, all completely demolished by Harle's own smoking nostrils. But Kidd could not bring herself to blame the Dragon. For once, she could not shift the insurmountable blame onto her. Life seemed to enjoy torturing the half-dragon, with bitterness and sorrow. Kidd knew who she was. A clone of some woman from a distant time, and land. And that was all. But compared to Harle, the anguish of her parents betrayal, the destruction of the IPS Trojan, the orphanage of Nunia, the combat against her beloved Serge, and the loss of Black.... all of it left only unanswered questions and a need for revenge on someone, anyone at all.   
"Serge mate..." Kidd spoke softly, as if he was beside her. "...why didcha have to go and interfere? Why didcha have ta bring all ya mates into it? Why...?"   
Porre was in ruins, its navy reduced to timber wood, and all of its ground forces melted into puddles of flesh and metal. But from what little scouting the army could do, it seemed to be determined that Harle was making her way slowly south. Perhaps she wasn't as insane, as Kidd has first thought. For on her current path, Harle was bound to cross over El Nido. 

  
Arni, even smelt the same as it had. Kidd took a few moments, despite her hiding place, to look about. People were everywhere, and the tiny village was bloated with crowds unsuaul and busy for the tiny village. Many faces were familiar. She had seen them with Serge on the battlefield at Dimenial. She had lived among them, the first time they had hunted the dragons. But now she was forced to remain hidden, lest they find her and exact some mutated revenge.   
After days, even weeks of travel to return to Arni, Kidd felt her mission and her objective beating in her head. Her knife seemed to will her forward, as if she could not control her own mind. But someone had to pay, for the sufferings of the world. And Serge was the only attainable target to such a boastful justice.   
She had not lost her skills of thievery, Kidd noticed as she picked her way through Arni. No one saw her, or at least no one noticed who she was as she circled about and made her way towards Serge and Leena's new home. By that point, her eyes no longer saw the village, or the people of it. She only saw a path to Serge, and death was with her. Soon, she pressed hersealf against the rear most wall of his hut, and the window curtains blustered out above her as she crawled below the opening. For two moments she listened, making sure that there was no one in the room she poised to enter. And like a snake climbing a tree, Kidd slithered into the bedroom window. She rolled once and hopped to her feet in seconds, her blade already out and ready. It was the lover's bedroom with a king sized bed taking up most of the space. Only some minimal wooden furniture decorated any other portion of floor.   
There. Someone stirred under the covers. Kidd could see the rainbow colored quilt rise and fall rhythmically. With a quick yank, Kidd threw the covers aside. Serge laid there, wearing only a pair of white boxers. Bandages wrapped his chest, and legs, and head. Though the day had only just begun, Serge did not lay to rest out of laziness. But rather he seemed to be recovering from something terrible. This didn't matter! Kidd shook her head, rattling her mind to keep her focus. She leapt up into the air, throwing her arms and dagger downward with rib cracking speeds. Her eyes closed tight she readied herself for the sound of cutting flesh. But that sound never came. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the tip of her dagger on his chest, just barley indenting his skin. Though she tried, and screamed in her mind, she could go nor further. It was impossible.   
"... Kidd ... " Serge's eyes opened. The blue diamonds found their way to her soul, and her face turned away.   
"Serge."   
"What are you doing here?" It took him a moment to notice the dagger balanced on his chest. "I see." Kidd sheathed the knife, and quickly stepped to the furthest corner of the room, her arms wrapped in front of her chest and her eyes cast down. "Do you see my chest? My face?" Serge asked, his voice waved up and down with raspy vulnerabilty. And his words alone seemed to tear into Kidd's back. "Three months ago, Harle turned into that ... monster ... I... I tried to stop her. Spirit ran, you and that other man, disappeared. But we were confident. No." Serge let out a little cough. It was nothing serious but Kidd felt a tear slip down her eye. "No. I was confident. As you can see, the battle did not go well."   
"Butcha had those wounds for three months?" Kidd wanted to... she wanted to love him. She wanted to love him like Harle loved Black. Perhaps, Juku was right all along. She could never kill Serge, even in her most distant and terrible of nightmares.   
"Harle, poisoned me somehow. Her power is great. Not even with all my friends, could I defeat her."   
"Will you... die?" Kidd turned back to Serge, her face had broken but he ignored her. He would not embarrass her any more then she already was.   
"No. I will recover in a few more weeks. It's hard to believe..." Serge coughed again, this time harder. Kidd ached with him. "... but this is the best I have been in a long time."   
A moment of silence stretched out between the two. Kidd could only stand and look at him. Marriage kept her far from his body, though she would normally be beside him, lavishing physical affection in the most masculine... and feminine of ways. Perhaps Harle was stronger then she was. Harle could break herself from Serge, but she could not.   
"Kidd." Serge finally spoke again. "Look." He lifted his arms, both covered in white wraps up to his wrists. "I thought I was a hero. I went in too fast, with too much confidence. The blessing of the Chrono Cross is gone now. My time in the sun... is over. I saw that the moment that Harle's energies impacted against me. No, I saw even before then but I was too stubborn, and too far in to stop."   
"Whadda ya mean? Ya givin' up?"   
"In this chapter of history, I am not to be the hero." Serge admitted. "There will be another, who will do what I set out to do."   
"Serge..." But he was already unconscious. Sleep beckoned him, and she was no match. Leaning over him, she could feel his mind still. His presence soothed her with brushing petting strokes, and for a moment she closed her eyes, letting him wash over her as she had so many times before. Reaching out a timid, forceful hand she touched the side of his face, and pushed a lock of hair aside.   
The door creaked open, and from the opening a burning stare prodded its way through. Leena. Kid noticed her, embarrassed at her compromising position. But she lingered a moment more. Leena didn't move. She just watched, and simmered. Had she been there the whole time? What did it matter? And Kid was gone the next moment, the curtains rustling gently in soft reminder. 

  
It amazed her to reflect on how much had changed in her eyes. The Radical Dreamers, were a distant memory. They themselves were whispers of Harle's own past. Serge, had been a creature in trouble when she, a brash young thief, had stumbled upon him. Swimming for his life, assaulted by soldiers of unknown origin, of unknown reason, she had saved him in her mind. She had relived that day, a thousand times. Every breath, birthed a memory.   
And what of Oppassa beach? Every time she thought of those sacred sands, she could remember the first time she moved between worlds with the hero of time. Her amulet, his power, all came together and two worlds merged. Now, it all seemed so childishly simple and far away. But the first time she had gone between, despite her placid face her mind was frozen in horror and her heart fluttered with curiosity and glee. Serge stood near her, his arms warm, and she felt no fear. His power controlled the very elements she feared the most.   
She was a clone. The news, has been all sealing, and far reaching. Her sister, or mother, or whatever she was, had allowed her to do what she wished. After Serge had finished his act of heroism, Kidd had been granted freedom to travel. But something, had drawn Kid to stay in this time, and in this dimension. Was it Serge? Of course. From the moment she grasped onto him, her orphanage and home burning off in the distance, to the day she left him after that final battle she loved him with every portion of her soul. Even, when she didn't know who he was. What caused such feelings? Why was he such an unattainable, but such a desirable prize of prizes? He was strength, and he was kindness. His silent eyes, were all that and more. But those two qualities where all she needed.   
All this thought and meditation on Serge, occurred fervently and constantly in Kid's head as she watched him from afar. The shrubbery and buildings, coupled with the noise and crowds of the village allowed Kid some shade and cover. But she would follow him through an eternal field, in the bright of day, no matter who was there to watch. How else could it be? Where else could she go? Leena seemed to lavish an unusual amount of affection on her new husband. Did she know she was being watched? How silly. Of course she didn't. They were newly weds. That was what they were supposed to do. And every time their lips touched, Kid could not look away, though her eyes burned.   
The men of the village worked with heavy hands. But their voices were strained and high. A storm brewed far in the distant north. A storm with wings. Serge and Radius had both confirmed it, scribbeling calculations on maps and parchments. Indeed Arni could be Harle's only destination. With futile actions but hopeful desires the men and the women of Arni banded together. Windows were boarded, and doors sealed. Barricades were erected in the hope of fortifying the village. Such tiny pieces of wood, could do nothing. Arni's savior had retired to his role in history, and the village would be the toy of a rogue dragon. A dragon who would kill them all, without a second breath.   
"Serge! RADIUS!" A single man, ragged with miles of running stumbled into the village. Serge would no longer let himself be confined to his bed, and since Kid had taken to the shadows he had wandered the village.   
"What is it?" Serge walked towards the messenger, slowly but with control, his bandages still wrapped his body but now his clothes covered most of them.   
"Serge! Oh thank goodness you're here." The man paused, sucking in a great breath before continuing. "I've just come from Termina! The Purple Dragon has arrived there! She is tearing the port to pieces! Not even Porre can stop her."   
"She will be here soon." Serge turned his back to the messenger. "Sooner then I expected."   
"Serge?" Leena stepped towards him, fear in her eyes. She did not want to fight. And Serge was in no position to save her. "Is it true? Are you sure?"   
"She is coming."   
And so the question arrived. Kid turned away from the village, resting her back against the rear of one of the huts. This question had been on her mind now, for days upon days as she waited for Harle to force her way deep into El Nido. But now it was finally time to answer it. Would she fight with Serge? Would she allow herself to take that one last plunge into the past never to emerge again? Or would she leave him to his own fate, and finally conquer this obsession? Become history, or leave it to itself. And her heart and mind met within her, to battle for her future. 

  
"I....I see it!" Someone finally shouted. The day had only progressed part way through, the noon sun had only just formed. Had Harle really finished with Termina so quickly? Such poor souls, that stood in her way.   
"Stand firm everyone!" Radius shouted, as the ranks of fighters began to gather at the edge of town. Serge hobbled towards the forefront, Leena beside him of course, and he was flanked by all of his comrades from his days as hero... long past.   
"We can do this." Karsh spun his axe about him once, in a masculine display.   
"Aye." Zappa patted the head of his hammer into his hand.   
"Serge?" Leena had a hopeful gleam in her eye, but her voice trembled. "Do you think we will make it?"   
"Yes." Serge responded. It was a lie. Was it? Kid didn't care. She wanted to make it the truth by her own two hands.   
And the Omega Purple arched across the heavens. It flew, a single concentrated beam of pure, purple energy. Such an element type had never before been seen upon the face of the planet. The moon dragoness, had called upon both moons to forge a new set of elements for her. And though the beam could be seen against the sky, it moved with unwooried slowness. With its terrible power the element finally came down, beside the village in such a way that it threw trees and dirt about madly, but did not hurt a single structure. Leena screamed, the element felt so close to her and she was too weak to stop it. Serge's arms were around her instantly, and he whispered promises into her ear. She would survive. She would have the family she always wanted. Everything would be the same as it was once, all would be healed someday.   
And Kid finally saw Serge, for the first time. He was not hers to have anymore. The day he vowed his life to Leena, he existed as near as a distant lighthouse, always seen but never close. In that simple and protective action of Serge, over his love, Kid finally understood. Her life was leading her down a path far from her friend, and her love. She would never forget Serge. But, as he held another's body close to his, Kid felt that she finally had the strength to move on. And she knew what she had to do, to pursue the course that had been laid before her.   
And a smile crossed her face. Since when had she become such a philosopher? Another purple bombardment tore another crater into the earth. Perhaps, Harle had that effect on people.   
Her wings flapped, up and down and up again. The power they generated swirled the clouds and spawned tornadoes. Leveling her wings, she began to dive in towards the village that had caused her so much terrible pain back in time. She released another wailing screech, of her voice and that of a beast. It seemed as if she mourned her ugly state of being. Kid leapt out from her hiding spot, tearing through the crowd of human shields, bent on preserving the homes and loved ones with their own bodies if the need arose. Finally, she made it past the heroes. Only Serge, Leena, and Harle remained left before her.   
"Oi! Mate!" She shouted. The winds were becoming harsh, as if the atmosphere itself fled the dragon.   
"Kidd." Serge nodded. His face always serious he showed no affection, but it felt good to have a familiar body beside him to fight.   
"We been through some times, haven't we mate?"   
"Yes." Serge agreed. His tight grip kept Leena's mouth closed. This was a moment that only Kid and Serge would share.   
"Well then! I just wanted to tell ya...." And she leaned in close. "... I loved every one of 'em. G'day, mate. See ya around."   
"Good bye Kid."   
"Bugger!" She jumped back, as if his words had offended her. "This aint goodbye mate! I'll see ya again! You can count on it!" With a stiff wink, and a softened glance towards Leena, Kid ran out before them, towards the descending demon.   
"Kidd!" Serge shouted after her, struggling to run along side her and bring her back.   
"Serge!" Leena held on to her love, selfishly but reasonably. "Let her go! She knows what she's doing!"   
"...Kidd..." 

  
This was it. Harle howeled down the currents before her, and her friends shuddered and whispered behind. If there was every a time to make her words count, this was that time.   
"Harle!" Kid shouted skyward towards the Dragon. The Purple Dragon came closer, every line of every scale becoming visible. Veins traced the thin yellow wings, as red eyes moved about with no one place to fix them. Kid could practically hear Harle's heart beat. "Harle! It's me! Bugger! Get your arse down here! I need to talk to ya!"   
Of course, with little thought the insane goddess flew faster and harder, with no intent to stop that far short of the village.   
"Oi! Fine!" And with that Kid grabbed a single Magma Burst element, and focused it down. Finally, reaching the peak of it's heat and force Kid let out the blast in a line of fire that torched the sky, and blasted past the flying dragon, inches from her soft nose. Harle arched her back, flapping her wings once to propel her self backwards. Though her flight had been maddening, she avoided the element with ease. But now Kid had Harle's attention, and Harle turned to obliterate whoever had the gall to oppose a goddess. When Harle's great legs finally smashed into the ground, a ripple of vibration brushed past Kid below her feet.   
"Okay mate." Kid smiled, fighting for a look of mischief. One wrong move and it was 'good bye cruel world.' A rather gross amount of stress. "Cut that crap. Who the bloody hell do ya think ya are eh?"   
Harle reared back her head, gathering up a great chest of air. She thrust her mouth forward and she let out her dragon call. The very breath and sound blustered past Kid in an amazing wind.   
"Yeah yeah. I've seen it all before. What's the matter with ya?" Kid threw a cloak of anger about her. A fiery infuriation that was both justified and necessary. "You think you're the only one who lost mates in the world? Bugger! The whole bloody world is pain! Life sucks Harle! IT SUCKS! But ya gotta just pull yourself together, and move on! Stop actin' like you're all alone! Ya got mates! Even if ya don't know who they are sometimes, ya still got 'em. And they'll be there, ta help ya through. But you've gotta stop this!" Kid let her face soften, and she spread her arms out in front of her, as if to embrace whatever Harle would throw. "Besides. If there's anyone in the world who should'a died a long time ago... It's me. So eat me, or blow me up or whatever thing you were gonna do to Arni. And then get the hell home."   
Harle stood there, her breaths heaving and labored. Her blood eyes, which had darted about crazily finally came to a steady rest on Kid's face. Kid stoped, unmoving and unbending. She meant every word she had said, and all that came with it. And for several long moments, the two just stared at one another. One, the vision of strength and weakness, the other a picture hope. And slowly, the rage began to fall apart inside of Harle's chest. It toppled over, giving way to a surge of sadness, even depression, that she could not contain or control. There was a slow gust of wind and a dimming glow for a few moments as the Purple Dragon deteriorated into a crumpled human being. Harle stood there, her eyes burning with a well of tears. And her fists were clenched tightly into balls.   
"Zhey took my Black away from moi."   
"I know mate." And Kid moved up, towards the clown, touching her shoulders once, and then wrapping her arms about her.   
"Zhey... zhey took him away..." Harle began to weep, arms limp but face burned deep into Kid's shoulder. "Why!? WHY!?"   
"I don't know why ya always get the shaft mate." Kid drew the broken clown as close as she dared to. "But whatever happens now, it's you and me. Right?"   
"...oui..." And Harle finally, let herself receive the embrace. Though Kid didn't mind how openly Harle wept for her departed lover, Kid would not let Harle see her own tears as they gathered in her eyes and made lonely marches down her face one by one.   
"Serge." Someone breathed from behind him. "She's in her human form. We can kill her now."   
"No." Serge gathered up what was left of his strength, and let his beating heart slow again. "This battle is already over. Come. We all have much to talk about, and to do." And with that Serge began to hobble back towards his hut. He would enjoy the company of his wife for the evening, and come the morning he would lead his friends into the future.   
"The lad's grown up, quite a bit, hasn't he?" Zappa commented with pride. Apprenticing for so many years had birthed a paternal instinct in the old timer.   
"Indeed he has." But nothing could compare to Raidus' pride. For Serge was a seed from his own village. 

  
© Copyright 2003. Gregory Koprowski. All Rights Reserved.   
This is in reference to all _original_ characters, text, and plot situations _only_. See Story Notes. 


	21. Soul of a Harlequin Chapter 20

-=- Part 3 - Harle Remains -=-

-=- Chapter 20 - "Unwanted, Unwelcome, Beloved" -=-

_Harle lingered only a moment upon the shores of El Nido. She could not remain. The hatred of the world burned her up like a wisp of dew in the noonday light. Without uttering a parting word to the island she ravaged, nor to the world she chastised, Harle disappeared as quickly as her dragon form had descended upon the world. Memories of the purple dragon were spoken about now as one speaks of a plague or a natural disaster. For indeed no one alive could have stopped her then. And the world bandaged its wounds.  
__Moving north Harle traveled along with her Kidd. Lonely companions they spoke very little of the Black Harlequin and the legacy he had left. Though Kidd took her time to grieve, Harle did not. She spoke his words, quoting him at times as if she had memorized every word he had spoken. And those words gave her strength. But she never stopped to shed a tear. The world had felt enough of her tears. She pushed ahead over the water and the barrier islands around El Nido and the main land Zenan, and through the Porre naval ships to a patch of islands gripping each other with loose sandy fingers. The winters covered the islands, much like the fierce ice of Teodorrin. The summers moved just as hard, the heat dropping down like sand bags to shatter ice and bone.  
__On one of the islands Kidd and Harle found a forest. Indeed most of the larger islands round about all had forests. But in that particular forest there they found a cottage had been built, and promptly abandoned by its builder. Purchasing supplies from a traveling trader ship forty miles away, indeed the nearest human by twice that distance, they rebuilt the house and settled in to make it their home.  
  
__Black has fallen. Remember when. A year has passed between now and then..._

Glass water edge. Red eyes cast out to the ocean. Waves fell, dulled knife blades, touching the edge of an everwhite toe and fleeing from it, back towards the blue and blue horizon. She gripped the shore, bare palms pressing through sand sticking between her fingers, arms stretched out to fullest length. And her back unfurled, uncurled, spreading out along the shore before a brazen bit of ocean washed higher up her legs. The sun shouted above, white burning away the sky until her eyelids snapped shut, head turned away. But the bright passed through, the glow glowing dull, and a hand lifted to cast a shadow down upon her face.  
"Think fast mate!" A sudden shout cut across the summer beach head, riding the tail of a circled shard of wood. The carving descended from higher up a sand dune, a smooth brown line sliding closer to the ground and the woman spread thin where the water met the shore. A moment passed, another, diamond eyes followed the projectile as it spun along behind its shadow cast on the sand rising beneath it. Just before it sliced over the top of the sunbathing woman she lifted one pearl-white hand and her fingers snapped around it, stilling it as if she had scooped a bird from the sky and snapped its neck with the same motion. "Bloody good catch!" Leaping from the top of her sand dune, tumbling along the crumbling face, Kidd ran towards the woman still resting with the carved throwing disc shading her face above. "Throw it back! Quick! Throw the lil' bugger back! Harle! Harle? HARLE!"  
"Bah, you are like zhe little puppy dog, non?" One eyelid crawled aside, perfect red beneath, and her other eye followed. The throwing toy remained in her grip above, eclipsing the sun though it still burned around the edges of the shadow held high. Leaning forward Harle rose to a sit, letting the wooden circle fall to her lap. Two arms thrust out over her head, taller, pulling on the joints until a crack replied.  
"Woah mate..." Blinking once, stepping back, one eyelid slid up Kidd's face and lingered there. "Wher's yer...yer clothes?"  
"Mmm?" Standing, brushing the sand from the backs of her legs, Harle looked down over her own body. From behind her back two wide lines of cloth joined between her shoulder blades, one blue and the other red. Curling around under her shoulders to her front they spiraled into a bow dripping two tails down to rest on either side of her naval. Below a pair of briefs were formed the same way, with the bow ending behind instead of in front. Yellow hair rained from her head with golden metal shine, surrounding everwhite cheeks and scarlet eyes. "What iz zhe matter? You don't like mon swimming suit?"  
"Nah, that's not what'a meant." A smile melted across Kidd's face. "Just not used'ta seein' ya without the tails and bells is all."  
"And what of you, ma amie? Not zhat you wear zhat much clozhing anyway." Having abandoned her red skirt and tee-shirt Kidd wore a patchwork swimming outfit formed of splotches of yellow and skin-toned peach held together with black thread jagged teeth, all drawing tight to a one piece suit. Though her scorpion tail still poked out behind.  
"Hey! Yer just jealous cuz' I don't have ta hide behind a chest plate!"  
"Hmpf!" Laying back out Harle turned onto her side, away from Kidd.  
"What's a matta' mate? Gotta lobster in yer knickers?" Dropping down to sit beside Harle, hands on either side supporting her up, Kidd turned her eyes out to the oceans spreading out thin to an unseen line.  
"...hot..." Harle's word blew against the sand near her lips.  
"Huh?"  
"Oui! It _iz_ hot! I can hardly stand it!" Turning back onto her back, weaving her fingers together and cupping behind her head Harle shut her eyes against the sunlight. "Zhe summer... it iz too thick here... I want to just rip of zhese ribbonz and swim all zhe way to zhe nort' pole."  
"You'd make some fishermen _real_ happy." Picking up her throwing disc from the sand Kidd turned it over and over between two hands. "I dunno what yer whinnin' about though mate. It'aint that hot."  
"Bah! Humanz are such numb creaturez!"  
"C'mon mate! Get up!" Standing up, gripping Harle by the shoulder and pulling her upwards as well, Kidd shook her toy in her other hand. "Lets throw around the disc for awhile! A little runnin' and you'll forget all about the heat!"  
"You do not give up eazily do you, ma amie." With a sigh Harle was upon her feet, Kidd departing, already running along the shoreline, distant away.  
"Catch this one!" Pulling the toy against her and then whipping her arm around Kidd released the carving as her wrist snapped against her own limit. And the wood rocketed along, towards the naked clown along its path. A sudden ocean wind picked up the toy, taking it away from Harle and lifting upwards and around until it fell backwards, traveling where it came, striking Kidd squarely in the forehead.  
"Ah oui. Your skill makez moi tremble."  
"Yeah yeah. Try this one on for size mate!" A stronger effort and the throw toy dipped to the ground, tipped off a rock laid flat in the sand, bouncing off, the wood erupted heaven bound. Harle followed it, a black speck joining the seagulls, disappearing into the sun. With a tap of one foot Harle entered flight, chasing down the hunted bit of tree and pride. Passing it as she continued her climb Harle turned her back to the sunlight brighter so high up and she plucked the disc free from its own flight. Teeth snapping tight, eyes squinting she pulled back and let fly.  
"I got it! I got it!" Spiraling around the descending shadow Kidd waved her arms above her head, trying to see her toy against the sunlight. "I got it! Bugger!" With her squeaked exclamation Kidd threw herself out of the way, arms covering the back of her head, as the splinter of wood slammed into the ground tossing a blast of sand up and over where it impacted. "Bloody hell!" A crater remained where Kidd once stood, the sand forming blast rings radiating out.  
"Oh! You didn't catch it?" Touching down, her feet unfolding back upon the sand, Harle held her arms crossed over her chest ribbon. And her un-painted lips curved downwards just a pinch. "Oh non, I suppoze we are done. And I waz juzt starting to have fun."  
"Sheeze ya bloody clown! Where ya _tryin'_a kill me!?"  
"Mmm...maybe."  
"And where the hell is me throwin' disc!"  
"Uh..." Dipping down Harle plucked a single wooden spike from the ground, dropping it in Kidd's open palm, letting a smile peek.  
"Heh, well now I'm real glad I made _two!_" From behind her back Kidd drew out yet another carved flying disc.  
"Give zhat to moi!" Reaching for it Harle's fingers grasped nothing as Kidd pulled it away just out of Harle's range.  
"Hey now mate! If ya want it ya gotta catch it!" Stepping back Kidd threw it with a slash and the disc smashed into Harle's exposed abdomen, ricocheting off into the ocean beyond. "Ha! What's a'matta mate? Too fast for ya? Mate?"  
Letting a gasp bubble up from her throat Harle's eyes grew wide within her face. And her legs let go, knees kicking forward, tossing her to the ground. On hands and knees she looked down to the sands below, minuscule pebbles trapped between spread fingers.  
"HARLE!" A running step forward and Kidd was upon the fallen girl. Opening her mouth just a bit Harle released a stream of green and it splashed against the ground and her arms holding her up. "Ewwwah! What the bloody blue blazes is going on! Mate! Can ya hear me? Are ya' alright?" A belch and another round of vomit answered Kidd's cries.  
"...hurt...hurtz..." Mumbling, with her face still down, Harle hardly tensed beneath Kidd's arm as the blonde-haired thief wrapped her grip around the slender blonde and lifted her up by the shoulder.  
"C'mon mate, we gotta get ya outta'the sun."

The sands melted away, giving sway to fertile earth stained a deeper brown. And trees rose up on either side, tall creatures with barky girth. Spreading branch fingers interwoven together and the leaves kept back the edge of the sunlight. Only pinholes poked through the canopy letting shafts of luminescence tumble easy on the pair. Bushes, brown corpses of previous lower-down plant life, rattled and crackled as rodents scurried to hide away, running away from the barefoot steps of the human and her dragon cargo. Dead leaves weighed down on each step, hiding loops of root and spiked broken branches to stab at unclothed toes. Outlined in the distance a new shape formed, a squat square between linear trees, set at the edge of a grass meadow. Wood planks nailed in place they moved horizontal one over the other. Paint layered over the walls around the windows, a skyline blue. Spread shingles swirled above to form the roof, each speckled white and gray. And the doorway lead out to a line of yellow flowers catching bloom. Each plant grew straight in a line until they reached the field and the forests beyond.  
"We're almost there mate, just hold on a mite longa'." Eyes cast forward Kidd kept her gaze set upon the rear of the cottage as she dragged the harlequin along. Harle remained limp, pushing along the ground, knees hardly locking, as if pedaling a bicycle made out of mud.  
"Yah!" Head snapping straight up, neck a solid line, Harle suddenly thrust Kidd from her and took a stumbling step away. "Leave moi alone! Non!" And even as Kidd struggled to keep her balance Harle ran off into the forest, splitting from the path that would bring her home, heading for a shadier spot.  
"Harle! Get back here! Sheeze..." Spitting the word out, Kidd picked up her feet and set them down, tossing herself into a run to follow the half-dragon already just a dancing spot of red between the trees.'  
A tree root grasped Harle by the ankle and tore her from her sprint. Falling, sliding, she hit an elder tree, wider then its kin. Flipping herself around she began to stand but instead slid along the tree bark back to a sit. Kidd leapt from between two saplings, now just a card-throw from Harle's resting place. Drawing her legs up to her chest Harle hid her face behind her knees, curling tight together in the shadow of the old plant.  
"There you are. What'a matta mate? Why'dya run off like that, uh?"  
Pulling her head out of hiding Harle let out a shriek, beast mixed with a woman's scream that drove Kidd backwards away. And birds took to the air in clouds, running from the draconic roar.  
"I'm not leavin' ya mate so get over it! Tell me what's goin' on!"  
Another shout.  
"We've had this talk already clowny. Now shut up and talk ta me!"  
"Go...go away...leave moi..."  
"Why? Are ya contagious? You got some sorta dragon flu?"  
"I...I'm...I'm..." Pushing back, hard against the tree, tears gathering at the edges of blood red. "I'm embarrassed..."  
"Holy..." And Kidd sat down beside Harle and leaned close. " 'kay mate now you're _really_ scarrin' me. Harlakin's don't get embarrassed."  
"...quin..."  
"Eh?"  
"Harle_quin_."  
"Heh, you're still there. You are still with me, right Harle?"  
"Oui."  
"Why dontcha just tell me what's what eh? It can't be that bad."  
"...mm...Mmmmm..." Slumping forward Harle's eyes sunk, closing over. She slid along, to the side until her body fell into Kidd's lap.  
"Alrighty. Lets get you home first."  
  
"Are ya bloody serious!?" The room stretched wide, though it remained filled with an equally portly bed clothed with a quilt stitched purple and red and with yellow trim. A dresser stacked three drawers high held aloft a teddy bear with a twin-tailed coxcomb. And a mirror leaned against the wall, nearly ceiling high, besides. A night table, a chair, a line of books gripped between two rocks on a shelf, and a sprinkle of other possessions laid out across the bedroom beneath the window sunlight and the four unlit candles waiting at the four corner posts of the wooden room. "Are ya really _really_ sure?"  
"Oui..." The word came wrapped in a sigh. Arms and legs spread out around her Harle laid out across the bed over the quilted bedspread. Kidd remained in the doorway, leaning on the doorway, with her arms crossed before her and her foot tapping along beneath.  
"Cantcha...cantcha just, I dunno, hold it?"  
"Are you insane?"  
"Well I dunno! What am I suppsed'a say!"  
"Just shut up...be quiet...I will make enough noise...ugh...for zhe two of us..."  
"Well, uh, want me to, uh... sing a song or somethin' to calm ya down?"  
"I...said...SHUT UP!!!" Leaping from her rest Harle slammed straight into Kidd, like a panther gathered upon its pray laid flat. Lashing downwards Harle bit down onto Kidd's cheek, leaving a curled teeth line etched in blood.

"BLOODY HELL!"  
"YAAAAAAH!"

"Oi! Me head!" Hand spread out over her forehead, holding her head upon her neck, Kidd stood up. Nighttime covered the room, a secret black, the shine of Kidd's own eyes penetrated. "Where's me element...hmmp..." A slide, a crash, something fell and shattered with a deeper sound, clay bits remaining. "What happened...? Here we are!" With a click and a flash Kidd cupped her hand around a torch until the sparking red crystal lit the wick and died away itself in the torchlight. "Oi! Bloody! What...happened?" It seemed only the brick fireplace remained standing upright. In the center of the cottage's largest room. A table lay upon four broken legs, the legs having been snapped into clubs. The water pump gripping the pipe bent nearly parallel to the floor as if some stone had been hurled at it. Dishes and clayware coated the wood-tiled floor with a layer of powder mixed with metal shards strewn like shining splinters. Each wooden chair had been broken, the chair backs remained intact though, save for a few finger imprints where a mighty grip gripped the chair before swinging it into its target. Candles lay snapped, wicks keeping wax chunks together like the innards of a slaughtered goat. "Harle." And Kidd stepped towards Harle's bedroom, the door having been torn from its hinges and lodged into the wall nearby. "Harle! Ya broke the house! And ya bloody near broke me!" Thrusting herself into the Harle's bedroom door she stepped to each corner, lighting the candles, each adding a brighter glow. Harle's bedroom had remained calm despite the rest of the house, only the covers of Harle's bed lay disturbed, and the ribbons of Harle's bathing suit scattered like confetti squares around the room.  
On her side Harle lay curved at the hips, her quilt resting draped upon her, above her bent knees and stopping beneath her shoulders under her arm. Curled around, her body seemed wrapped about a single point in the center of the spread-out bed. Six eggs, no larger then her own fist, rested in the delicate nest her body formed. With one free hand she touched one, then another, and then the next, as if counting them over and over. Each shell had its own color with specks of the same darker color spotted across. Black, orange, cerulean, gold, silver, and purple made up the rainbow she contained.  
"So, ya finished yer buisness yet mate?"  
"...oui..." A distant answer wisped from Harle's lips.  
"Where ya gonna keep this a secret forever, mate?"  
"...oui, eh, non...I don't know..." Peeling her eyes from her work Harle looked up to Kidd, the gold-haired girl leaning against the wall beside the doorway. "It waz not somzhing I wanted to talk about."  
"How long mate? How long'd ya know? How long'd ya keep this a secret?"  
"You... do not understand."  
"I understand. I turn my back for a second and you and Black are playin' rabbit-rabbit in the middle'a the woods! At least ya waited till I was sleepin'."  
"If you were sleeping, ma amie, how did you know?"  
"I...uh...!" A flush of red blossomed across Kidd's cheeks.  
"I did not know." And her eyes snapped back to the eggs. "I...we...made love...only once. I felt nozhing afterwardz." Eyes shut a grin curled across her face.  
"Aww! No mate! No! Now yer all thinkin' about it! That's nasty!"  
"And zhen zhis happenz. I felt hot, as zhough I had a fever. And you were more annoying zhen usual but suddenly I felt sick and..."  
"Don't forget about wrecking the cottage mate. It's gonna take _you_ weeks to fix it all."  
"I don't know what to do, ma amie. I did not know zhis could happen."  
"Wait a bloody second! I'm not more annoyin'!"  
" I do not even know what will come out of zhese eggs or how long it will take."  
"How do ya know they'll even hatch, huh?"  
"I can feel zhem. I can feel zhe life." A sigh. Harle opened her eyes again. "What have we... what have I done? Zhis iz, all wrong!"  
"What'r you-"  
"Black! I need him! I cannot do zhis wizhout him! I cannot..." Her hand reached up, running through her hair, pulling the ends. "My instinct, it tellz me zhat I need my mate now. I cannot leave zhese eggs. Zhey must always be warm. But, how can I eat? How can I hunt?"  
"How? Aww, c'mon." Rolling her eyes, ending with a smile Kidd pointed a thumb straight back at herself. "I guess I'll have to be the daddy. Just tell me what ta do mate!"  
"I am...very scared..."  
"I know. But nothin'll happen while this Radical Dreamer's around! Not even Spirit's gonna touch them eggs."  
"Be right, ma amie... si vous plait....be right..."

Weeded ocean waving green, each bit of grass swayed to windy music invisible. Forests, like thick black hairs, surrounded the open meadow, the dandelions drifting upon the earthen sea. Wading into the plants knee deep, black eyes, onyx eyes turned from side to side, ears dancing about above, long points independent one of the other. Dipping its neck down, unfurling, unfolding to the ground the lonely deer dropped its tongue free a moment grasping a single colored blade up from the soil. Taking the mouthful back up with it she let her body carry her head, sliding around full circle, dying sun cast above tree-ravaged horizon.  
A spark of red dripped from a forest tree, silver tooth glinting in hand. Low to the ground its scorpion tail jingled behind. With one leg catching the blur leapt into the air as the deer snapped its head to bear. Nothing remained to be seen, and a moment crept along.  
"G'day!" From behind. And the deer pulled its head back around in time to meet with a leather gloved fist. Knocked flat to the ground Kidd stood over the deer, dagger climbing higher above. "Sorry mate. It's the law a'the jungle. First come, first serve, or whateva'..." When the dagger had sliced what needed slicing Kidd gripped a pair of legs in each hand, throwing the carcass about her like a sack resting behind her head. And as the wind died away with the sunlight, Kidd disappeared into the forest with it, leaving only a failing scent behind.  
Through a stretch of forest she traveled, twilight weighing heavier then the departed dear. Beached upon the shore a long canoe, hewn from a single tree trunk, tickled the top of the rising tide. Blade marks and axe scars splattered across the sides of the craft, and it sank down beneath the meaty weight. With her prey at her feet Kidd gripped a double-paddled oar and pushed from the island towards the next in the chain.

"Hey mate! I'm gettin' a little tired'a this every five minutes." Kicking the door aside with her feet Kidd stepped into the cottage. A blast of firelight, a blast of hot air fleeing swept up into her face luring out a tear. With the same foot bent around Kidd pressed the door shut behind her, letting the deer drop to the floor with the same motion together. "Oi! I think me shoulder's split right down the middle!"  
With a shriek Harle appeared in flight above, leaping from her place of rest, landing on the deer with her mouth leading her. And jagged teeth emerged behind thin lips. Blood splattered out in her wake as the clown pushed into the beast, withdrawing her head only for air, cheeks tainted scarlet, a string of innards trailing from her mouth.  
"Oh...la-la! Excellent! Très excellent!" Circling her lips around an intestine she slurped it into her cheeks like a bit of spaghetti rolled too thick.  
"Aww! Bugger!" Turning her face away, blocking the sight with two arms crossed over her face, Kidd crossed the living room floor. "Sheeze mate, it's gettin' real toasty in 'ere."  
No response from the dinning clown.  
"It's still summer mate, do we really need the fire goin' like that?" Taking a seat beside the table, wooden legs of the furniture patched with wood braces and twine, Kidd looked out over the floor towards the fireplace stocked full of fire. Between her and the blaze a crate lay filled with Harle's own bed quilt holding the clutch of eggs in a circle around.  
"Urp! Oh, excusez-moi." Appearing at Kidd's side Harle stretched her arms up over her head. "Pardon, for zhe heat but..." A hand traced down Kidd's face, lunar-white.  
"Woah..." Kidd's own hand went up to meet it. "Whats'a matta? Yer hand is burnin!"  
"Oui, I know. Suddenly I feel like a fever is covering mon body from mon 'ead down to mes petits pieds. I feel like I am glowing."  
"Bugger Cat, put on some bloody clothes." With her hand still lingering upon Kidd's shoulder Kidd turned her head away from the nude Harle, human Catharine.  
"Bah! I can hardly stand zhis heat! I will not. You will juzt have to get uzed to it."  
"Yeah, whateva' mate."  
"Are you not going to your bedroom? It must be très chaud, too hot for zhe little human girl."  
"Nah, I wanna watch. Then I'll leave ya alone."  
"Very well."  
Reaching down over the crate Harle's fingers wrapped about the ebon shell of one of the eggs, lifted from the clutch. Both hands circled around the egg with fingers weaving together, cupping the new-life-forming. Opening her mouth Harle let loose a slow exhale that came with a tangible mist tainted blue. Swirling from her lips the wisp wafted straight, blowing to the egg and disappearing upon the shell, luminescent energy clinging like drips of diamond dew, and it passed on through to the dragon within, illuminating from the inside out, revealing the shadow of a head and a body sprouting below it like a long curled tail.  
"Sheeze mate, that is ... weird..." Pushing against her knees, rising to a stand Kidd stepped through the doorway nearest her, opening and shutting the door behind. A moment passed and Kidd appeared once more holding an item in each hand. "I bumped inta the old trada' again the other day. I traded some elements for a few things."  
"Not any of zhe red elementz I hope."  
"Nah, mother oven, just a few _AquaBeam_s we had layin' around. I got ya this mate. Put it on. I'm tired'a lookin' at yer arse." A pair of sheer shorts and a wide cloth ring to wear around the chest, Kidd tossed them balled up tight to Harle as she laid the black shell to rest. Though not necessarily transparent, they ran sheer and thin like darker stockings sewn into odd shapes.  
"Non! Non ma amie. Non clo'ez!"  
"Listen mate, this whole thing is just startin'a freak me out a little. Do me a favor and just wear the bloody things. The guy said they're real light and breezy. Sides' I'll make ya a deal. Put'em on and maybe I'll letcha have this little beaut'." In her other hand Kidd held up a book, leather bound.  
"You are a dirty thief."  
"And yer a naked dragon."  
"Bah, fine. I did not realize I waz so offensive."  
"Heh, well now ya know."  
And Harle slipped into the shorts, pulling the cloth around her chest and tucking it beneath her arms, it ended just above her naval.  
"Ya know, I kinda miss yer costum clowny. I mean, 'clowny' don't make sense no more."  
"Ah oui, moi aussi. It is zhe firzt on mon list."  
"List?"  
"Of t'ings I will do when zhese bloody eggz hatch!"  
"...eh?"  
"Oh shut up."  
"Here's the book Cathy, as promised."  
"Stop zhat!"  
"What Cat?"  
"Zhat!"  
"What?"  
"Hmpf!" Slapping on palm onto the book Harle pulled it from the table and flipped it open to the title page, words scrawled with type-faced lettering, floating in a drawn box curling to brackets. "Fairty talez of zhe Sout'."  
"South Clowny."  
"Oui! Sout'!"  
"Whateva'. Look, it was'a real popular book back in Nido. Was surprised to find the guy had one. Go on, look at the first story."  
"How zhe six dragonz saved zhe sky..."  
"Ironic, no?"  
"Non."

Standing in the center of the cottage's main room Harle held her hands out, palms open, slowly circling around. Her very fingers glowed a distant orange, as if fire burned within them. Perched around the room her eggs spread out around her in a loose circle, each upon their own resting place, though Gold and Silver leaned close beside one another. A chair, a pillow, held up in a corner, they all looked back to Harle and her empty crate besides. The door popped open with a kick, Harle crouched to hands and coiled knees and before Kidd even dropped her carcass to the ground Harle had already landed upon it, smashing it to the floor with a quicker strike.  
"Almost outta firewood already? Sheeze. Didn't know being a papa was gonna be such bloody hard work. Five kills a day and firewood between. You sure those eggs're not just little _BlackHoles_ mate?"  
"Zhis iz, all pointless." She spoke hardly a whisper, gold-metal strands spreading before her blood stained face.  
"Mate..."  
"I cannot keep pretending. I cannot imagine zhat everyt'ing iz okay!" Harle spun about to face Kidd's back. "Three weekz we have done zhis without speaking a word, a serious word!"  
"Go on mate." Pulling a chair to meet her halfway, Kidd sank to a sit.  
"What should I do? I am hunted. Spirit wants me dead and she will do...'orrible t'ings to zhese children. Maybe we will starve! Maybe-"  
"We're mates, right?"  
"Uh...oui." The fire pushed against the daylight, orange swirling into sun burned yellow. Both girls looked forward, Harle remaining behind, Kidd nearer the fire.  
"Well, I'll always be here for ya. But latley, I dunno if it's the eggs talkin' or what, but ya keep on whinnin' like a lil' joey. I can't keep dryin' yer eyes like I'm yer mommy or somethin' mate."  
A bird let out its call, flapping across the window's view, its body deformed behind sweat covered glass.  
"You are, cruel."  
"I dunno mate. I kinda hoped some'a the stuff Black said would'a really stuck with ya. Ya ever really think about 'im? I mean really think. Bah, a'course ya do."  
"Oui."  
"Ya ever think about that he was really old? Did ya ever think'a that? He was'a dragon way waaaaay before we were even born'r made. Heh, mate, ya loved an old grandpa dragon."  
"Dragonz do not age az humanz!"  
"Maybe not, but its this lil'human's opinion that you got stuck somewhere mate. That was his fault."  
"Watch your wordz carefully human."  
"Bugger." One diamond eye peeked back over Kidd's shoulder behind. "Are ya gonna kill me mate? Black was'a wise old grandpa. He wanted to do everyhin' for you and you let 'im, just like you let everyone do everythin' for ya. Ya gotta grow up. Ya gotta decide ta grow up. I think I've thought about stuff more'en you. I think I've thought'a those eggs more'en you."  
Four walls, windows in each. Three doors with brass knobs catching firelight glow. A carpet thrown down, a rug pulled tight with woven yarn. A bookcase popped from the wall with three books sitting upright, and two laying down. Harle stood between Kidd's back and Kidd's meat, letting tears strike the floor.  
"Snap the hell out of it mate. Stop treatin' these eggs like they're some sorta chore. They're Blacks goin' away present. And I don't care how much diff'rent humans and dragons are, yer still their mum. But if yer afraid, if ya wanna give up thats fine with me. I'll stay with ya no matta what decision ya make. But its time ta choose mate, and choose fast." From her lap Kidd lifted an arm up and out passed her side. Resting in her palm the orange egg remained aloft, a short drop from a wooden floor. "Cuz I'd ratha get rid a the joeys then watch 'em die later on."  
"Damn you."  
"Whateva' mate."  
And the egg tumbled free, spiraling down, caught by an everwhite palm.  
"I'm gonna get the meat and chop the wood, but ya gotta raise 'em up right. That's yer responsibility."  
Harle said nothing, kneeling on the floor, the orange egg tucked into her lap.  
"I'm gonna go chop some wood. Lemme know when yer hungry again." As she stood the chair pushed off from the back of Kidd's legs. With a twist and a push Kidd emerged into the cooler summer sun, leaving Catharine behind, and an orange egg on the edge of death and life.

The door opened. A shadow pressed against the shards of sunlight slicing into darker rooms, moving closer over the threshold in. The door shut and Kidd remained standing with a dear looped round her neck. And it slid free, striking the floor at her feet, bouncing once before coming to rest.  
"Et comment allez-vous sentant ce matin?" Holding the purple egg in her palm upright she brought it near her mouth and one eye opened wide.  
"Ah, toujours affamé." Harle replied as if someone had spoken a word to her, invisible in the silence. "Tante Kidd est ici avec le petit déjeuner maintenant. L'attente juste plus longtemps et nous mangera ensemble." Setting the egg back down with the others Harle turned outwards to Kidd still standing nearest the door. "Bonjour ma amie! What...are you ztaring at?"  
"Yer goin' bloody mad aren'tcha?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Yer talkin' ta the eggs like they're talkin' back ta ya!"  
"Oh! Zhey are. Can you not hear zhem?"  
"Uh, no mate."  
"Ah oui. Zhey started speaking avec moi yesterday. Zhey are quite zhe talkerz."  
"...bugger..."  
"Oh, stop looking at me like zhat! I am not crazy."  
"Right mate."  
Harle dipped down again, drawing out the orange egg from the bunch. Like the others of the clutch, the orange egg fell squat in her hand, larger then a softball in size. In her sheer shorts and top Harle split the room, arriving just a step before Kidd, and she held out the egg towards the blonde dreamer.  
"Take it."  
"Why?"  
"Orange, she iz zhe lazt not to have spoken. She wants to see you."  
"If she hasn't said nothin', how do ya know she wants to see me?" With two hands Kidd took the egg and held it up close to the edge of her nose. "Woah, its real warm."  
"A mozher knowz. Ha! Listen to moi! I sound like zhe old lady, non?" One knee at a time Harle lowered herself to the floor before the deer, jabbing her hands into the animals stomach together she spread them apart, ripping a hole to start from.  
"Uh, G'day lil'orange joey egg mate, uh, thing. How's the meat been tastin' through that shell?"  
_H...Hi..._ A word trickled from the egg, a whisper unheard yet spoken clear with a child's voice behind it.  
"Oi! The bloody thing just shot a word inta me brain!"  
"Mmm..." Crunch. Swallow. Harle withdrew her head from the deer. "Oui! Zhat iz how zhey talk."  
"Uh, yeah. A' course."  
_Aunt Kidd?_ A girls voice it rang with a snowflake jingle. _Where is mommy?  
_ "She's eatin' some deer meat lil'darlin'. She'll be done...soon?"  
"Oui, soon."  
"Soon."  
_I like dear meat. When I hatch mommy said she will take me hunting and teach me to hunt much better then that-good-for-nothing-blonde-bimbo-thief-I-keep-around-until-she-outlives-her usefulness.  
_ "She is kidding, ma amie."  
"She'd better be mate."  
_Auntie? What's an oi?  
_ "Oi?"  
_What's a bugger? What's always so bloody?  
_ "Uh, those're figers a' speech-"  
_Why do you always bring home dear meet? Mommy said daddy would have brought home different meat but that you're my daddy until I hatch.  
_ "Somethin' like that-"  
_Auntie? When I hatch, will you take me fishing?  
_ "Mayb-"  
_Will you teach me to hunt too? I want to learn to use a dagger!  
_ "Weapons're danger-"  
_I wanna steal stuff too! From unsuspecting humans like you do!  
_ "I-"  
_You're my favorite aunt! When I grow up I wanna be-  
_ "Woah mate, I feel a little sick." Setting the orange egg back into the crate. "I don't think I'm ready for all this parenting crap yet."  
"Bah, you make a handsome fazher."  
"You'd better cut that out Cathy."  
"Oui, oui." Standing, patting her stomach curving outwards in slight, Harle stepped to the egg crate. "Time to eat mes enfants."  
"Mate uh, we gotta talk." Opening the door, pulling by the leg, Kidd tossed the bones and innards left upon the deer. It flew up and smashed down on a pile further away, covered in fly-dots buzzing round and round. Door shut, crossing the living room, Kidd sat down on the chair nearest her room, crossing her arms in front of her chest.  
"Orange, she will not ztop talking about you. What did you do to her?"  
"Don't try and change the subject mate, we got a real problem."  
"I know. It is getting cloze to winter. Zhe animalz are almost gone."  
"Good guess mate. I dunno how we even got so much outta these islands. I've been watchin' the animals and I think they swim from island to island at some real shallow points and they keep movin' south until they hit the Zenan mainland. It's pro'ly a winter migration. Soon it'll take me a day just'ta walk _to _the huntin' grounds. I think we'd betta start thinkin' about movin for the winta' mate."  
"Non." Speaking, back turned upon Kidd, Harle lifted the gold egg, letting her energy pass, a blue vapor between. "If zhese eggs are cold, too cold, zhey will die. I cannot move zhem without letting zhem become cold. Zhere is no way."  
"Mate we can't-"  
"Do you feel zhis heat? My heat?  
"Uh, yeah..."  
"It iz still chilly for zhem."  
"But we can't!"  
"We have to. Unless you have a plan?"  
"I...no."  
"We are stronger zhen you t'ink. Let us try."  
"Alright mate. We'll try. We'll give it a try."

Ocean breezes turned to demons with crystal wings. Days aged, falling gray where once sunshine chased saplings from the ground. A finger touched the window, Harle's arms extended to the glass, and she pulled the tip away with a snap as if the winter pending just beyond had burned her burning hand. White glare threw her scarlet eyes back towards her, a shimmer of her own face caught within the window. And a snowflake fell, a single speck of water fluff, touching the ground, blowing a silent horn, a herald horn for those waiting above.  
Days and nights came without change, a colorless glow slightly dimmer during the night, slightly brighter when day should have been. Meat memories echoed the cabin, Harle holding her hands out to each egg, warming fingers spreading flesh fire vapor to those gathered around. Cheeps and chirps bounced between each egg. The dragons were speaking in audible voices, incoherent squeaks, begging for a touch of blue misty food. But the mother could do nothing but stand between them and offer heat, heat growing cooler as well.  
The door opened, Kidd entered tugging in snow along with her feet. The door shut and the white rain upon the floor evaporated to steam in moments. Keeping her lips in a line, a rigid shape Kidd unhooked the jacket of deerskin fastened with rope and wooden clasps at the ends. Next came her pants of the same material, and booties covering her shoes. She collapsed to sit amongst her winter garb still cool against her skin, and Harle appeared above. Holding out open hands her maternal heat poured over Kidd's arms and legs, the blonde thief having worn her red and white clothes beneath the winter skins. Legs, arms, elbows and knees, her body glowed with a red tinge close to the surface.  
"How long mate?"  
"Three days." Harle remained above, arms ever extended.  
"Bugger. Can't tell no more." Reaching behind Kidd began to tug on the strands of hair that had pulled themselves free from her scorpion hold. Twirling her fingers about she circled the knot once more, a tighter hold.  
"Zhe winter seemz to be an enemy of moi." From the table at her side Harle lifted her teddy bear with the clown's headdress of blue and red.  
"It ain't no mate'a mine niether." Standing, Kidd approached the egg crate, though only two eggs could fit inside, each having grown to be as round as a bowling ball around. "Hey mate."  
_Hi Auntie! Meat? Meat?_ Orange responded to Kidd's greeting even without a touch.  
"Soon mate, real soon."  
"Its getting colder." Harle said, at Kidd's side, looking down to Orange and Purple in the crate together. "I am, very hungry."  
"I wish I could help ya mate." Looking away, lifting her head to stare at the ceiling Kidd let an index finger scratch at her cheek. "But there ain't nothin' left on these islands. And the Porre navy is startin'ta show up here'n there."  
"It is time that I leave." One step towards her room, she stopped as Kidd spoke out to her.  
"Mate, we can't do this. You can't. Just, I dunno, eat me or somethin'. Winter can't be that much longa'."  
"Ma amie?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Shut up."  
And Harle's door shut tight behind her. Kneeling at the foot of her bed, before the chest sealed tight there, Harle lifted up the container and pulled out the copper key from beneath. Sliding it into the lock, with a quick twist the top popped free enough for slender fingers to enter. And she lifted the hinged chest open. Sheer shorts and light-weight top came off first, forming a ball in her hands that she tossed aside. Two halves, bound at a sewn joint at the crotch, and she folded it around her torso holding it with one hand and stitching up one side with the other. A blue string wove round and round through gold lined holes, pulling tight, the sheath forming to her body. With her back pressed to the wall, her other hand keeping the front tight to her chest, she wove up the other side. Pulling the edges, testing the tension behind, she nodded and reached back into the trunk. Blue puffed sleeves, and blue puffed pant legs came up next, sliding over each limb, fastening to the torso piece. Gloves and curled toed shoes slide over hands and feet, gripping the other end of each sleeve and pant leg to hold them in place. Lifting the brass breastplate next she held it up, reaching behind and fastening it together as it fit into the grooves and loops of the torso mid-piece. The tails, two tails with a gold bell on the tip of each, she slid them around her neck, zipping them up in front and pulling a line of cloth up over the zipper so only a black shadow line remained behind. Hanging down across her chest, where once just a bit of costume glass had hung the Heart Gem waited with the same dark color, never glowing, forgotten light.  
The coxcomb came up last from her trunk, and she threw it on top of the bed. With a skip she landed beside it with her legs crossed already and a hand full of bobby pins poking from red glove cracks. Winding and weaving she pulled her hair up, tucking it around until two lumps formed on either side of her head. Pulling on her headdress like a hood Harle tucked the last strands up out of sight above, and let her fingers pinch the two puffs of pink covering either ear, until both were plump once more. In the mirror she held up a brush, a thin bit of metal with stiff hair at the tip, it grew no wider then Harle's own finger. Dipping it into a small glass bulb of red she drew out a pin-prick of the paint and dabbed it up and over each eyebrow, an outline of scarlet circling each scarlet eye, left eye drawn with a jagged spike jutting down, smaller ones going around, and her lips grew fuller with the stuff. Snapping the cap back into place Harle replaced the paint into her nightable drawer, and the brush as well. Retrieving a new brush she took out also another paint bulb holding water blue. And she circled a teardrop circle beneath her other eye.  
Harle pushed open her door once more, out into the living room, red leather burning against her skin.  
"No mate, no!"  
Ignoring the calls Harle stepped to the fireplace and the mantle held above. Two metalic fighter fan blades stood above, mounted to a single wooden board. Beneath a hinged card box remained. And Harle lifted the box, drawing out a section of metal throwing cards glowing with shards of rainbow prismatic colors.  
"Mate! What'ya doin!?" Standing, holding Harle's hands in place, Kidd pulled the formed clown from the fireplace and the weapons gathered, dusty rusty memories. "Ya can't leave, who'll keep the lil'joeys warm?"  
Holding up one hand Harle let the sheer shorts and lightweight cloth she once wore, fall to hang from her pinched fingers.  
"No way! You got yer dragon sweat all over that stuff."  
"I made zhem for you, zhey are not mine." She held them out still to Kidd but the thief spun around to the fire with her hands tucked beneath each armpit, crossed over her chest. "Si vous plait, you must keep zhem warm while I gather food."  
"H...How?"  
"Stay very close to zhe fire. Hold on tight to each egg. And zhey will fight as well, to stay alive." Placing the sheer cloth bunched up on the table, walking to the door, Harle turned her face up and over her shoulder. "Ah! Ma amie! Why be zhe drama queen? Zhey are children of moi! Zhey will not die!"  
"Alright mate." Hand squeezing the heating clothes, Kidd turned to face the harlequin with a smile burning beneath wide diamond eyes. "I'll take good care a'em! In fact I'll take such good care' a 'em when they hatch there'll be six lil Kidd's runnin' around instead'a weird lizards."  
"Eww, sounds messy."  
"That's not what'a meant clown girl!"  
"Oui, ah well, ourevoir ma amie! Ourevoir mes enfants! Dream of moi every night!" With a wink and a slam Harle disappeared into the failing daylight, into the snow, into the shadow, and her smile disappeared already.

Leaving her eggs in the hands of a human thief Harle sets out to find food in the wastelands of the world. But what was supposed to be a simple hunt turns a sinister shade of Black...  
Will Harle be able to fight her way back home? Can she gather food along the way? Or will her children starve before she can save them? Will she even be able to make it back at all? Stay tuned...

-=- Chapter 21 - "His Return...?" -=-

_Arise and poke it shinny gundam!_


End file.
